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India: Bhopal lab under strain
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/a...ow/1493974.cms
Flu: Bhopal lab under strain</ARTTITLE>
Kounteya Sinha
[ Monday, April 17, 2006 11:49:38 pmTIMES NEWS NETWORK ]
NEW DELHI: Scientists at Bhopal's High Security Animal Diseases Laboratory are facing a serious problem because untrained field officials collecting blood samples of dead birds in various states have not been preserving the samples properly, before sending them to the lab for testing.
The result ? thousands of spoilt samples that are of no use. Now, all 14 scientists of the lab, who have been working exclusively on India's bird flu programme, having shelved their other projects, are not only testing samples but also sorting them, leading to a huge waste of time.
According to sources, last week the lab received 2,300 bird samples from Kerala, all of which had fungus. Just three days back, scientists spent eight hours just sorting out good samples from the bad ones, sent to them from Maharashtra, MP and Karnataka. Over 4,661 samples were found spoilt.
The lab's chief HK Pradhan, told TOI, "My entire staff has been working on just testing samples for bird flu. We are under tremendous pressure. States are sending hundreds of samples everyday. ...
Collectors aren't following the guidelines to preserve the samples. Many of them aren't even trained. They are just told to meet a target. This way, we are wasting precious time in our fight against the virus."
The Bhopal laboratory is the only one in India carrying out tests for the H5N1 strain of bird flu. The facility, manned by 14 researchers, is testing over 3,000 bird samples each week.
The lab is also asking states to stop sending serum samples for testing. "We want states to send us tissue and faecal samples. H5N1 kills birds in a very short time and the body does not get time to produce antibodies. Thats why testing serum samples are of no good."
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Flu: Bhopal lab under strain</ARTTITLE>
Kounteya Sinha
[ Monday, April 17, 2006 11:49:38 pm
TIMES NEWS NETWORK ]NEW DELHI: Scientists at Bhopal's High Security Animal Diseases Laboratory are facing a serious problem because untrained field officials collecting blood samples of dead birds in various states have not been preserving the samples properly, before sending them to the lab for testing.
The result ? thousands of spoilt samples that are of no use. Now, all 14 scientists of the lab, who have been working exclusively on India's bird flu programme, having shelved their other projects, are not only testing samples but also sorting them, leading to a huge waste of time.
According to sources, last week the lab received 2,300 bird samples from Kerala, all of which had fungus. Just three days back, scientists spent eight hours just sorting out good samples from the bad ones, sent to them from Maharashtra, MP and Karnataka. Over 4,661 samples were found spoilt.
The lab's chief HK Pradhan, told TOI, "My entire staff has been working on just testing samples for bird flu. We are under tremendous pressure. States are sending hundreds of samples everyday. ...
Collectors aren't following the guidelines to preserve the samples. Many of them aren't even trained. They are just told to meet a target. This way, we are wasting precious time in our fight against the virus."
The Bhopal laboratory is the only one in India carrying out tests for the H5N1 strain of bird flu. The facility, manned by 14 researchers, is testing over 3,000 bird samples each week.
The lab is also asking states to stop sending serum samples for testing. "We want states to send us tissue and faecal samples. H5N1 kills birds in a very short time and the body does not get time to produce antibodies. Thats why testing serum samples are of no good."
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