BSL-4 Lab under test in Nagasaki

The Tokyo Health Ministry has confirmed that a facility on the Nagasaki University Sakamoto campus has met the standards required for research on deadly viruses. The facility is a biosafety level 4 (BSL-4) laboratory, representing the highest level of biosafety precautions required for facilities designed to study agents for which there are currently no treatments or vaccines. A BSL-4 facility incorporates stringent safety measures to prevent the contamination of pathogens in the surrounding environment, in addition to decontamination showers for staff members. The facility is in the testing phase and has not yet introduced any level 4 pathogens. Experts are undergoing training before the facility’s full operational capacity is realised, as explained by Eiichiro Watanabe, director of the BSL-4 liaison office. Obtaining the necessary approvals from Nagasaki University took 15 years, leaving Japan behind other countries in studying deadly viruses and developing effective vaccines. Presently, the sole BSL-4 laboratory in Japan is operated by the National Institute of Infectious Diseases at a facility in Musashi-Murayama, western Tokyo. It is estimated that more than 20 countries worldwide operate approximately 60 BSL-4 facilities, with many of these facilities being situated within academic institutions.