STAYING AHEAD: An official said that a level 4 lab in New Taipei City needed to be updated if the nation is to stay ahead of China, which built a similar facility in Wuhan

Taipei Times
Date: Jan 08, 2019
By: Lo Tien-pin and Jonathan Chin  /  Staff reporter, with staff writer

The Ministry of National Defense yesterday proposed a five-year initiative for comprehensive improvement of its biological warfare defense capabilities, with a planned budget of NT$495.6 million (US$16.1 million), a ministry official said yesterday.

The budget includes NT$58 million over three years to upgrade a biosafety laboratory to match a new Chinese facility in Wuhan, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

The level 4 lab in New Taipei City’s Sansia District (三峽) was designed according to WHO-approved protocols for the isolation of biological agents. Only labs rated level 4, the highest standard, are deemed capable of handling highly dangerous or unidentified pathogens.

Before the Wuhan Institute of Virology opened in January last year, Taiwan and Japan were the only Southeast Asian nations that had level 4 labs, which are crucial assets for epidemiology research and work to counter biological weapons, the official said.
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