Sambalpur: The bio-safety level-3 (BSL-3) laboratory established at Veer Surendra Sai Institute of Medical Sciences and Research (VIMSAR) at Burla in Sambalpur district will soon become operational, a report said Wednesday. The matter came to light during the visit of Prof Manoranjan Pattnaik, chairperson, the state tuberculosis taskforce to VIMSAR at Burla, Tuesday. Pattnaik visited the laboratory and expressed his displeasure that the laboratory was yet to be opened even three years after the completion of its construction. There exist some problems in the lab which he hoped to get resolved within a week. VIMSAR superintendent Dr Jayashree Dora, Professor Sunil Behera, doctors Gouraharai Pradhan and Sanjiv Mishra were present during his visit.
During the visit, Pattnaik asked the VIMSAR authorities to open the BSL-3 lab soon for the benefit of patients. As part of the discussions, Pattanik also asked the VIMSAR authorities to appoint a micro-biologist and start examination of samples. Notably, BSL-3 laboratories study infectious agents or toxins that may be transmitted easily through the air and cause potentially lethal infections. In this laboratory, researchers perform all the experiments in a bio-safety cabinet which is designed to be easily decontaminated. When contacted, Dr Sanjiv Mishra of VIMSAR said that the BSL-3 laboratory has been established at VIMSAR as part of the National Tuberculosis Elimination Programme. It was decided to develop modern BSL-3 labs in some medical colleges of the country and VIMSAR is one among them, he said. The lab will conduct liquid culture of the suspected patient’s sample to identify tuberculosis (TB).
This examination will clearly determine whether a person is afflicted with tuberculosis and the result will be 100 per cent accurate. Recruitments have been made for the laboratory except for the post of biologist which is lying vacant. The much-awaited laboratory will be functional after a biologist is appointed. The establishment of the laboratory will be of great help to thousands of patients from 10 western districts of Odisha and also some districts of the neighbouring state Chhattisgarh who visit VIMSAR on a frequent basis for check up and consultation regarding their diseases.