Thiruvananthapuram: The RT-PCR (real-time reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction) and antibody tests for diagnosing and confirming Nipah virus presence can be done at Bio Safety Level 2 (BSL-2) laboratories, the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) has informed.
Of the three tests used for confirming the presence of the deadly virus, two can be done at BSL-2-certified labs. This means three government labs in the state—the Institute of Advanced Virology (IAV), Thiruvananthapuram; the National Institute of Virology, Alappuzha; and the Microbiology Centre, Kozhikode—are equipped to carry out the Nipah tests.
However, the Inter-University Centre for Biomedical Research, based in Thalappady, Kottayam, currently does not have the facility for Nipah testing.
Though these centres can detect the presence of viruses, only national-level institutes like the National Institute of Virology, Pune, are allowed to make the official declaration of test results.
This explains why the authorities first sent the sample to the Pune institute. Once the Center confirms the Nipah virus disease, the rest of the cases can be determined at the state-level institutes themselves, IAV director Dr E Sreekumar said.
The test should be conducted at the Pune institute only if the centre demands confirmation.
There seems to be nothing wrong with reporting the disease diagnosis locally, and the test results can be known in 12 hours, the IAV director added.
