ALAPPUZHA: The National Institute of Virology set up here in the wake of chikungunya outbreak in 2008 under the Union government lacks advanced testing facilities. As a result, it remains helpless when the state is under the threat of bird flu.
The NIV, the only one of its kind in South India, tests only samples of human beings. Dr Sreekumar, president, Kottayam Nature Society, said the upgradation of the institute was required since the state was at high risk of bird flu.
“At present the officials have to go to the High Security Animal Disease Laboratory in Bhopal for testing if a suspected case is detected. It causes great delays and escalation of viruses,” he said.
Though the NIV was set up as part of the Union government's efforts to tackle the outbreak of epidemics in the state, it is unable to prevent the epidemics even in Alappuzha municipality area.
An official at the institute told Deccan Chronicle that the institute had not been allotted funds for its own building. “At present, it has 20 staff members and several sophisticated equipment.
Though the state government has allotted five acres of land, funds for the building have not been sanctioned by the department of health research despite several revised estimates,” he said.
