Jakarta Post, Indonesia
11-02-06
Sharp end in Bali's war against possible bird flu outbreak
Inside a dilapidated two-story building in a dusty corner of Udayana University
campus in Denpasar, lies the Veterinary Medicine Department's molecular
biology laboratory, the sharp end of the island's fight against avian influenza, or
bird flu.
Prior to December 2005, a sample from a suspected infected animal had to be
sent to Jakarta or Hong Kong for positive viral identification, a process that could
take up to a week.
Currently, this lab can complete the process in a day or less. Moreover, it can
process up to 300 samples at a time.
"Give us a sample in the morning and by the afternoon we will give you the
result, which includes the specific subtype of the avian influenza virus," the lab's
head Ngurah Mahardika said. From the perspective of prevention, the reduction
from one week to one day is very significant.
"Imagine what the epidemic could do in six days to a tiny, densely populated
island like Bali; and, what we can do in six days," Mahardika said.
"Those six days are the line that separates life-saving measures from lifethreatening epidemic," he stressed.
The laboratory contains a three meter by five meter glass chamber, where most
of the dangerous work of preparing the virus for identification takes place.
Two centrifuges, an ELISA reader and a thermocycler stand on a table at the
chamber's north section. Facing the table is a Laminar flow cabinet and a
laboratory-grade oven.
Currently, several additional chambers are being constructed to upgrade the
laboratory's capability and increase its bio-security level.
Pointing at the newly arrived Liquid Nitrogen Container right outside the glass
chamber, Mahardika stated that the lab received generous contributions and
assistance from several concerned individuals.
"That is one of the personal donations we have received. Help comes from many
places, such as from my colleagues in the University of Hong Kong and Iowa
State University," he said.
Worth around Rp 40 million (US$4,400), the container can maintain a steady
internal temperature of -196ø Celsius, which is ideal for storing virus samples.
So far, Mahardika and his dedicated staff of around 20 students and lecturers
from the veterinary medicine department have collected and tested more than
8,000 samples.
Using the complicated yet accurate method of PCR (polymerase chain reaction),
the students carefully render the virus powerless with a mixture of fenol,
chloroform and alcohol.
They then isolate and extract the virus from the sample using the centrifuge
machine, which rotates the sample at a speed of up to 11,300 revs per minute.
The RNA (Ribonucleic acid) thus extracted is then mixed with a buffer solution,
several enzymes and genetic primers before being placed inside a thermocycler
instrument, which repeatedly manipulates the temperature surrounding the
mixture.
This process transforms the RNA into DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) and also
multiplies the amount of the DNA.
The final step, an electroforesis procedure conducted on the resulting DNA, will
reveal the type and subtype of the virus.
"A more complete result, which includes the virus' genotype, could be achieved if
we took another step, placing the DNA in the sequencing machine.
Unfortunately, we don't have the necessary machine yet. We must send the DNA
sample to Jakarta for that step," he said.
Having his lab fitted with a Rp 2.5 billion (US$275,000) sequencing machine is
Mahardika's current aim.
(I Wayan Juniartha)