Two years later, after relentlessly combating the virus in laboratories and on farms, she is now changing her remarks. “It may sound good but let’s not forget that it is evil, which is refusing to leave us so soon,” Abraham, director of the Pune-based National Institute of Virology (NIV), told ET. In his corner room on the ground floor of the institute is, among others, a black-and-white photograph of Mahatma Gandhi studying leprosy through a microscope in 1940.
A premier institute under the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), NIV was instrumental in isolating a COVID virus strain as early as March 9, 2020, making India the fifth nation after China, Japan, Thailand and the US . Hence. This feat was, in fact, achieved two days before the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a pandemic. Behind this rapid and effective move to isolate virus strains, NIV’s Biodiversity Level-4 (BSL-4) laboratory, built in 2012, is an essential prerequisite for developing home-grown vaccines and antibody test kits, which are available in Asia. This is the first facility of its kind.
China’s famous Wuhan Institute of Virology had created such a lab only after five years. The BSL-4 laboratory is critical to eliminate accidental spillage of live viruses even under adverse conditions such as earthquakes. Undoubtedly, the pandemic has given impetus to virus research in India, which has been a neglected discipline for decades, creating a desire among even young minds to pursue it as a career. But something else has also emerged from this. Scientists and policy makers in India now agree that virus research in humans and animals should proceed together. Doing such research in silos, as is practiced so far, has proved counterproductive. As Abraham says, the future lies in virus research involving animals, humans and the environment.
“Basic and clinical research around infectious diseases and viruses has to be coordinated across multiple areas – human health, animal health, wild animals and the environment. In the Indian context, this requires coordination at the highest level between the ministries of health, agriculture and agriculture. animal husbandry), environment and forests.
Another eminent virologist and visiting professor at Ashoka University, Shahid Jameel, says that there is a need to improve virus research in India. “Many more institutions should be doing both basic and clinical research around infectious diseases and viruses. More importantly, this research has to be coordinated across multiple areas – human health, animal health, wild animals and the environment,” he says. “In the Indian context, this would require coordination at the highest level between the ministries of health, agriculture (animal husbandry), environment and forests.”
A concept called OneHealth has gained momentum following the outbreak of pandemics, even as scientists around the world are battling for pre-emptive incidences of infectious agents jumping species. In his recently published book Going Viral, ICMR Director General, Balram Bhargava says that an estimated 60% of known infectious diseases and 75% of all new, emerging or re-emerging diseases in humans have their origin in animals, Having said that all seven coronaviruses are found. Humans, including the most recent SARS-CoV-2, are most likely to migrate from animals, primarily bats, rats, and domesticated animals. He also highlighted a field study conducted in 2018 on bats and bat predators in Nagaland. Both international and Indian scientists were part of that study.
In fact ICMR has been involved in research of bat behavior since 2001. Bhargava’s book further states that using the RT-PCR test, the NIV’s bat surveillance team also spotted pathogenic coronaviruses in two bat species – the Indian flying fox and Roussetus. In Pune, ET also interviewed three senior scientists from the NIV—bioinformatics expert Sara Cherian, molecular biologist Varsha Potdar and epidemiologist Sumit Bharadwaj. To fight the virus seen in Wuhan. The NIV has a total of 49 scientists, most of whom are virologists. The institute had earlier played a key role in combating Zika and Nipah virus.
Raman Gangakhedkar, an epidemiologist and face of ICMR, says at a press briefing during the first lockdown beginning March 25, 2020, that Omicron added 30 more mutations on the delta, a possible reason why the virus has reverse zoonosis, which Meaning that pathogens are being transmitted. From humans to animals. “We know that the virus often comes from bats and other animals. But once it infects humans, there are chances that it can spread to pets as well. And then it infects humans again.
“We know the virus often comes from bats and other animals. But once it infects humans, it is likely to spread to domestic animals. And then it infects humans again.” So we find a variant (Omicron) that suddenly gets 30 more mutations.”
That’s why we find a variant that suddenly gets 30 more mutations,” he says, adding that Omicron is like a distant cousin while the relationship between older forms like alpha, beta, gamma and delta is much closer. Meanwhile, the Government of India has embarked on a journey of mutual cooperation among animal, human and wildlife health professionals by forming a health association comprising 27 organizations including All India Institute of Medical Sciences, National Institute of Animal Biotechnology, Wildlife Institute in Delhi, India. , ICAR-National Institute of Veterinary Epidemiology and Disease Informatics, et al.
In addition, the BSL-IV laboratory-equipped National Institute of Forest Health, Nagpur is being built, which in turn is expected to work holistically including veterinarians, ecologists, wildlife experts, epidemiologists and public health experts. , according to a written reply to the Rajya Sabha in December last year. The Department of Biotechnology, which comes under the Ministry of Science and Technology, is the nodal department for this project. The use of animals for virus research poses another set of challenges. Activists and NGOs often strongly oppose sacrificing animals for the good of humans. In addition, the use of monkeys for research has a religious dimension – it is a revered animal in India and scientists are observant in their use. But for some specific research, for example, in pre-clinical testing of COVID vaccines, experiments on monkeys are indispensable.
While developing Covaxin in collaboration with Hyderabad-based Bharat Biotech, NIV scientists needed two dozen rhesus macaques for testing. Such an experiment was to take place after completing the testing of the vaccine on rats and hamsters. But monkeys were not readily available in the summer of 2020. Finally, NIV scientists along with forest workers caught 24 of them in a deep forest near Nagpur. The animals were brought by road. Once they became accustomed to the cages, they were taken to the NIV’s BSL-4 laboratory for testing, with one batch given the vaccine and the other a placebo. They were then exposed to live COVID virus to determine the efficacy of the vaccine. The trial did not end here.
The animals had to be used in batches to medically examine the exact condition of their lungs and other organs – for example, the lungs of vaccinated people were filled with oxygen. “We follow the guidelines of the Animal Ethics Committee,” says NIV’s Abraham, citing the example of accidental capture of a pregnant monkey prior to the trial of Covaxin and its subsequent release. “We didn’t use her. We caught her by mistake. She gave birth to a baby boy and we later left the mother and child in the woods,” she adds.
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