An important step has been taken to raise the nation's defense capacity against infectious diseases to international levels.
Construction of a biosafety level 4 laboratory, which will serve as the research center on infectious diseases, has started at Nagasaki University. The BSL-4 facility will handle pathogens with high fatality rates for which no effective cures are available, including viruses that cause Ebola hemorrhagic fever and Lassa fever.
The laboratory will go into operation as early as fiscal 2022. It is highly significant that it will become possible to conduct research on vaccines against these infectious diseases and therapeutic medicines domestically.
There are about 60 BSL-4 laboratories in more than 20 foreign countries, some of them having multiple such facilities.
There is already a BSL-4 facility at the National Institute of Infectious Diseases' Murayama Branch in the city of Musashimurayama, Tokyo. But the facility focuses on inspections in the event of an outbreak of a serious infectious disease rather than conducting research on extremely high-risk pathogenic agents. It is of an old type and its size is small.
To conduct high-level experiments, Japan has had no alternative but to rent foreign BSL-4 laboratories. But, since the 2001 simultaneous terrorist attacks on the United States, every country possessing a BSL-4 facility has strengthened anti-terrorism measures and restricted acceptance of researchers from other countries.
Global interactions have been boosted due to such factors as the increased number of foreign tourists visiting Japan, thus increasing the risk of new infectious diseases entering the country. It is also indispensable to take precautionary measures against bioterrorism attacks that would spread pathogenic agents.
Ensure tight safety
It is imperative to improve the situation in which research requiring a BSL-4 laboratory has stagnated and experts cannot be fostered as expected.
To turn the current situation around, the plan to build the BSL-4 facility at Nagasaki University has been realized with full support from the central government. The university, which has a rich record of research on tropical and other infectious diseases, had shown a keen interest in the construction project from the viewpoint of expanding its fields of research.
High-level safety is called for on the new facility. Therefore, the room for conducting experiments will be dually shielded to shut it off completely from the outside. Researchers will wear protective clothing. The planned laboratory will be installed with international-level experimental equipment. It is essential to pay sufficient heed to ensuring safety for outsiders, too.
On top of the construction cost of 7.5 billion yen, Nagasaki University is seeking government support for maintenance expenses. Government assistance is a necessary step to ensure the laboratory functions effectively.
The World Health Organization last February compiled a list of infectious diseases, including Ebola hemorrhagic disease, that call for sophisticated treatment, urging countries to bolster research and surveillance of these diseases. The list also included an unknown epidemic plague named "Disease X."
Ebola hemorrhagic fever spread to Europe and the United States after running rampant in West African countries from 2014 through 2016. The virus that causes Zika fever, which was discovered in monkeys in Africa, poses a threat to the world. Disease X is an alarm bell to warn of the possibility of an unexpected infectious disease going on a rampage.
Concerns have been voiced about the planned BSL-4 facility. It is imperative to explain in detail the importance of taking precautionary measures against infectious diseases and obtain the people's understanding of them widely.
(From The Yomiuri Shimbun, Feb. 2, 2019)
Read more from The Japan News at https://japannews.yomiuri.co.jp/
