The government will designate Japan's first laboratory to handle deadly pathogens like the Ebola virus for research as soon as next month, sources close to the matter said.
The facility, set up by Nagasaki University in southwestern Japan, has cleared requirements to be activated to the most stringent biosafety standards on a four-level scale, the sources said.
The country's sole lab with biosafety level 4 is at the National Institute of Infectious Diseases' Murayama branch in western Tokyo. But its role has been limited to tests, such as determining whether someone is infected with a highly contagious pathogen, under an agreement with the local government.
Nagasaki University in June submitted documents for the health ministry to begin screening of the facility, which was completed in 2021 on the university's campus at a time when the coronavirus pandemic highlighted the need to study infectious diseases to develop treatments and vaccines.
The ministry will collect public feedback on the facility until Dec. 14 and designate it as a BSL-4 research facility by revising a relevant government ordinance possibly within the year, the sources said.
A BSL-4 facility handles the most hazardous agents such as the Ebola and Lassa viruses and takes measures to contain the pathogens based on World Health Organization guidelines. There are over 60 such facilities worldwide.
