The building of the upcoming BSL 2 facility in Kanke on Monday. Picture by Prashant Mitra

The state’s debut animal laboratory project, which kicked off in Kanke — on the outskirts of the capital — in 2009, is expected to see the light of the day in a month or so.

The building of the Rs 45-crore BSL (biosafety level) 2 lab has already come up on the premises of the Institute of Animal Health and Production (IAHP) near Ranchi Veterinary College, while equipment are being procured.

BSL is the level of biocontainment precautions required to isolate dangerous biological agents in an enclosed facility. The levels of containment range from the lowest BSL 1 to the highest BSL 4.

A BSL 2 lab is suitable for work involving agents of moderate potential hazard. It includes detection of various bacteria and viruses that cause mild diseases in humans, including influenza A that gives flu to birds.

With Jharkhand witnessing an unprecedented spate of scavenger deaths in Jamshedpur, Hazaribagh and elsewhere, the debut of the laboratory could not have been more well-timed.

Samples of dead crows tested at the Indian Veterinary Research Institute’s (IVRI) Bareilly centre had issued an H5N1 (a lethal sub-type of influenza A) alert in December.

The virus has a high mortality rate in humans. However, the good news is that a team from the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) of United Nations, which visited Ranchi last week, has said that the avian influenza virus may not be responsible for crow deaths in Jharkhand.

Director of animal husbandry department A.G. Bandopadhyay said once the BSL 2 lab was ready, the state would be able to conduct serum surveillance on avian influenza and various other diseases for which birds act as carriers.

“The laboratory will start functioning soon. The building is ready and we are in the process of purchasing chemicals and instruments,” Bandopadhyay said.

Director of IAHP Dr Taran Singh, who will also head the lab, added that purchase orders had been placed and they aimed to start the facility, which is being equally funded by the Centre and the state, within a month.

Bandopadhyay admitted that while the BSL 2 lab would have screening facilities for suspected avian influenza, final diagnosis of serum samples could be done only at BSL 3 or BSL 4 labs that work on high-risk viruses. He added that they would moot for such a facility in Jharkhand in the next Five Year Plan.