Mumbai, Feb 19 (IANS): The country's first Biosafety Level-3 (BSL-3) mobile containment laboratory - the first of its kind in South Asia, was launched at Nashik by Union Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare Dr Bharati Pawar on Friday.

The BSL-3 will investigate the newly emerging and re-emerging viral infections that are highly infectious and of lethal potential to human beings.

"The Biosafety Level-3 Mobile Laboratory is a significant value addition to the government's efforts to strengthen the healthcare system through the Pradhan Mantri Ayushman Bharat Health Infrastructure Mission," she said at the inauguration.

The mobile lab will enable real-time data collection which would help the government to ensure quick containment of any emerging viral infections and also arrest its further spread.

The lab has been designed and built by ICMR in collaboration with Mumbai-based Klenzaids, a biosafety equipment maker.

ICMR Director General Dr. Balram Bhargava termed the BSL-3 "historic" and said this the first such mobile lab in the South Asia region.

He recalled how during the Nipah Virus outbreak in Kerala in mid-2018, samples had to be transported all the way to NIV, Pune.

It was then the ICMR felt a mobile lab could be of immense help during outbreaks of highly infectious pathogens as they can be stationed at different regions of the country and may be mobilised in case of sudden flareups, he added.