New lab for virus, disease research

Star: SUNGAI BULOH: Malaysia now has the facility and infrastructure to conduct advanced research in combating all kinds of viruses and diseases, including Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), the Nipah virus, avian flu, tuberculosis and anthrax.
The Biosafety Level 3 (BSL3) Complex, which opened yesterday, is the first of its kind in the Asia-Pacific region.
It is housed in the Health Ministry's National Public Health Laboratory here.
Level 1 represents common diseases and level 4 the most dangerous.
Before this, Malaysia had to rely on Australian experts, as the current labs in the Veterinarian Research Institute in Ipoh and the Institute of Medical Research in Kuala Lumpur were not capable of handling large-scale research, especially during the Nipah virus outbreak in 1999 and the SARS outbreak in 2001.
Built under the 8th Malaysia Plan in December 2004, the RM26.6mil complex is equipped with two BSL3 labs, one of which is enhanced with BSL4 equipment, supporting BSL2 labs, offices, general labs and seminar rooms.
Health Ministry’s Medical Development Department director Datuk Dr Noorimi Morad reminded Malaysians that “as society develops, so do diseases.”
“Age-old diseases such as cholera and typhoid are still around, and have evolved into more potent illnesses. But now, we are equipped to handle this,” Dr Noorimi said during the project's handover ceremony at the National Public Health Laboratory yesterday.
He added that the complex was developed entirely using local expertise.
Erla Technologies Sdn Bhd completed the project in July under the most stringent standards and has been certified by the National Association of Testing Authorities, Australia.
Its director, Shiraj Raja, said the country's top scientists would be enlisted to the facility when there was a potential outbreak of a disease, but that at any one time at least six scientists would be present to monitor diseases.