PM Mishustin visits Russia's only WHO avian influenza reference laboratory
KOLTSOVO, Novosibirsk region. March 5 (Interfax) - Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin has visited the Vector State Research Center of Virology and Biotechnology.
Head of Russian health watchdog Rospotrebnadzor Anna Popova and Vector General Director Rinat Maksyutov gave the prime minister and his delegation a tour of the Vector Center's department of zoonotic infections and influenza.
First, Mishustin was shown the protective suits worn by laboratory employees in the Red Zone. The prime minister asked whether the production of such suits is a problem. Maksyutov said that the main problem is making a heavy-duty reusable suit that can be disinfected using formalin vapors.
Later, the prime minister visited the only avian influenza reference laboratory of the World Health Organization (WHO) in Russia. This year, the laboratory is expected to receive the status of WHO Collaborating Center for Reference and Research on Influenza, the world's second center working exclusively with highly pathogenic influenza viruses circulating in both animals and humans. Laboratory employees told Mishustin that in 2021, Vector was the world's first to give laboratory confirmation of human infection with the avian influenza virus subtype H5N8, using a network of three Rospotrebnadzor regional laboratories and three reference bases.
Currently, the laboratory is conducting studies of the virus to assess its pandemic potential. The first results indicate that the virus poses the threat of a human pandemic.
The scientists are trying to create a vaccine platform which may be used if necessary.
"Allow me to congratulate your entire collective on this scientific project. Of course, there's nothing good about witnessing the appearance of new viruses. But the work done by our scientists and doctors aims to create the relevant tools to fight them," Mishustin said.
A prototype of a system for diagnosing the disease in humans has been created, the scientists told Mishustin.
In addition, the prime minister visited the reverse genetics laboratory, which is developing a candidate vaccine strain based on original molecular components.
The prime minister asked whether it is possible to model and create unknown viruses in a laboratory. He was told that the South African variant of the novel coronavirus has been practically recreated using genetic technologies. According to a laboratory employee, the strain will help in the study of the impact of particular mutations on the efficacy of the available testing systems and vaccines.
Mishustin was given a chance to see Vector employees working in the infected zone via video link-up.
Popova reported the first case of human infection with the avian influenza virus in Russia on February 20.
There is a low risk of transmission of the H5N8 avian influenza virus to humans, Western media said, citing the World Health Organization.