(JP)Ministry must trace SARS used in study

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http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/newse/20031211wo33.htm

 

Ministry must trace SARS used in study

 

Koichi Yasuda / Yomiuri Shimbun Staff Writer

 

Health, Labor and Welfare Minister Chikara Sakaguchi

recently unveiled a plan to address the unmonitored

import of SARS viruses into the country for vaccine

research.

 

Methods of testing for SARS have yet to be established

and are urgently needed, but research on the

effectiveness and reliability of potential SARS tests

requires viruses on which to experiment.

 

However, the procedures governing the import of SARS

viruses for research are unclear.

 

Even Sakaguchi was unable to provide a clear account

of the situation, beyond saying at a press conference

after a Cabinet meeting Friday that one or two

facilities probably were storing imported SARS

viruses.

 

Starting this spring, a joint research team formed by

the Health Ministry and Education, Science and

Technology Ministry began research at the National

Institute of Infectious Diseases (NIID) using SARS

viruses provided by Hong Kong University.

 

The team gave some of these viruses to the

disease-testing department of the Clinical Research

Center at National Kinki Chuo Hospital, with which it

is conducting joint experiments.

 

As part of the education ministry's research, Nagasaki

University and Hokkaido University also imported

viruses from Vietnam to conduct experiments.

 

According to inquiries by The Yomiuri Shimbun, Tokyo

Medical and Dental University also obtained SARS

viruses from a German university with which Tokyo

Medical researchers have personal ties.

 

The Tokyo Medical researchers then gave some of the

viruses to two other universities.

 

The above-mentioned universities and research centers

are not the only institutions to have imported SARS

viruses, but there is no way of tracing all the

institutes that have imported SARS samples for

research.

 

The Domestic Animal Infectious Diseases Control Law

controls imports of pathogens that infect domestic

animals for research, but diseases such as SARS, which

have not been identified as infecting domestic

animals, can be imported freely without notifying the

authorities.

 

The Education Ministry, Health Ministry and Economy,

Trade and Industry Ministry, which supervise research

institutes, said they did not have an overall picture

of the situation.

 

Freedom to perform research should be guaranteed, but

Kazuyoshi Sugiyama, head of the NIID's biosafety

control and research division, raised some concerns

about experiments that were being conducted without

sufficient attention to safety.

 

The SARS virus was designated under the revised

Infectious Disease Prevention Law that took effect

last month as a type 1 virus--the category reserved

for the most dangerous diseases.

 

The World Health Organization requires researchers to

handle type 1 viruses only in Biosafety Level 3

(BSL-3) special laboratories, the second-highest

safety classification.

 

WHO standards for BSL-3 labs stipulate a high degree

of safety precautions.

 

Entrances to BSL-3 special labs must have double doors

to prevent direct access to outside areas. Air from

BSL-3 labs is discharged through special filters, and

researchers are required to wear protective masks and

gloves while conducting experiments.

 

There are more than 200 BSL-3 labs in the country, but

there are no uniform domestic rules governing the

safety procedures at such labs, nor are there punitive

measures for infringements of safety.

 

The education ministry said research institutes and

researchers are given a free hand in running BSL-3

labs.

 

" It can't be denied that each research institute has

different management standards, " Sugiyama said.

 

In September, a researcher was infected with the SARS

virus at a BSL-3 lab in Singapore.

 

The case emphasized that the sloppy implementation of

safety measures, such as allowing researchers not to

wear protective masks, can result in infection even in

BSL-3 labs.

 

A WHO special committee proposed at the end of October

that every country inspect any of its research

institutes experimenting with SARS viruses, prompting

Sakaguchi to release an inspection plan.

 

Not only the Health Ministry, but also other

ministries and agencies with similar research

institutes should conduct inspections as soon as

possible.

 

As a measure against bioterrorism, the United States

in 1996 asserted legal control on the use of about 40

pathogens for research, establishing rules forbidding

researchers to use such viruses without permission.

 

Nagasaki University Prof. Koichi Morita said the

Japanese government must grasp the situation and

establish uniform guidelines on the use of viruses for

research.

 

Researchers also are calling for the government to

show leadership regarding SARS research.

 

Copyright 2003 The Yomiuri Shimbun

 

 

 

 

 

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