Have we learned nothing? 40 new biochemical labs that handle dangerous viruses are being built around the world after the Covid pandemic — with 15 in Russia alone

dailymail.co.uk/ ^ | 10/12/2022 | By CAITLIN TILLEY

[bitt]

Work on the live virus that causes Covid must be carried out in one of these top level security labs

India currently only has one working lab, but is building five and has ambitious plans for at least nine more

Experts say they could be a concern if harmful research is done there which 'gets into the wrong hands'

The Coronavirus pandemic has prompted a global surge in laboratories that handle dangerous viruses — despite concerns Covid may have been the result of the risky experiments.

More than 40 facilities certified as biosafety level 3 (BSL-3) or BSL-4 have either been built or have gone into construction since 2020, predominantly across Asia.

Many countries believe they were caught flat-footed by Covid and want to get ahead of the next devastating outbreak by studying pathogens that pose a threat to humans.

Experiments at these labs often involve tinkering with animal viruses to advance treatments and vaccines that could be used in a future outbreak.

But there are widespread concerns that these experiments might actually raise the risk of pandemics — something some experts believe was the case with Covid.

The virus first began spreading from a wet market in Wuhan, about eight miles from the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV), a high security biolab that worked with dangerous bat coronaviruses.

Scientists there worked on some of Covid's closest relatives. They were also found to have wiped crucial databases and stifled independent investigations into the laboratory's links to the pandemic.

Professor Paul Hunter, an expert in infection diseases at the University of East Anglia in England, told DailyMail.com he was concerned about what all the new labs would be used for.

[MalPearce]

I’ve actually been in biolabs used for research.

One of them was involved in testing for adverse effects with a drug being developed for early onset Alzheimer’s.

Another was being used to evaluate nimesulide - an alternative to paracetamol and ibuprofen that works a lot faster but can cause liver damage and adverse effects with pregnancy if overused.

It’s still widely used in eastern Europe and Russia. It’s never been submitted to the FDA for approval.

What makes me lol is, one of tge biolabs Russia kicked off about is one of the locations used for the evaluation of the safety of that medicine - there’s no point ONLY doing the research in one lab; it needs to be carried out globally not least that it seems certain ethnicities and genetics play a part in the severity of adverse reaction.

[Machavelli]

I believe there is or was one in the Ukraine. Where are the animal rights people?

[Jim W N]

The End is near.

[dforest]

It is amazing that some people believe that only one nation in the world is corrupt and that is Russia.

Russia is always bad. Just like Orange Man.

[dforest]

Are there any in UK Daily Mail?

It is one thing to have biolabs in your own country ran and paid for by you.

It is quite another to have a part, or stake in biolabs in other countries paid for behind the backs of citizens in said countries and subjecting people to lab leaks and experimentation in order to get around laws in one’s own country.