Acta Scientific Veterinary Sciences (ISSN: 2582-3183) Volume 4 Issue 8 August 2022 Biosafety Measures for the Laboratories Engaged in the Diagnosis/Research of SARS-CoV-2 Rajeev Ranjan*, Jitendra K Biswal, Jajati K Mohapatra, Shyam Singh Dahiya, Smrutirekha Mallick and Nihar Ranjan Sahoo ICAR-Directorate of Foot and Mouth Disease, International Centre for Foot and Mouth Disease, Arugul, Bhubaneswar, Odisha, India *Corresponding Author: Rajeev Ranjan, ICAR-Directorate of Foot and Mouth Disease, International Centre for Foot and Mouth Disease, Arugul, Bhubaneswar, Odisha, India. Review Article Received: June 27, 2022 Published: July 29, 2022 © All rights are reserved by Rajeev Ranjan., et al. Abstract Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2, SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) infection emerged in Wuhan city of China, December 2019 and subsequently WHO announced COVID-19 pandemic. In the absence of effective antiviral drugs, change in genomic make-up which leads to evolution of new variant, effective biosafety measure in place, front line health care workers or laboratory person- nel engaged in diagnosis and research are always at risk. As per the scientific risk assessments, the SARS-CoV-2 comes under Risk group 3 pathogens, and to prevent laboratory-acquired infections and disease transmission in the local population and environment, adequate biosafety containment levels are required. Therefore, non-propagative work and diagnosis of SARS-CoV-2 with inactivated samples should be performed at least under Biosafety Level 2 (BSL2), while diagnosis with non-inactivated samples should be car- ried out under BSL3 or BSL2 with inward unidirectional air flow along with BSL3 safety equipments and work practices. However, SARS-CoV-2 culture and isolation, as well as research and development activities, must take place inside the BSL3 containment facil- ity. We attempted to establish adequate and efficient biosafety strategies for avoiding SARS-CoV-2 infections within the laboratory. This may be accomplished by conducting a systematic and comprehensive biosafety risk assessment on a continuous basis in order to cope with evolving risks in the laboratory setting. Furthermore, the healthcare workers in hospital or researchers in the laboratories may be unaware of the possibility of aerosols and droplets mediated infection in the laboratory during the process of centrifugation, vortexing, pipetting, and so on, or by SARS-CoV-2 infected individual during the process of breathing, coughing and sneezing and that aerosolized virus may travel up to 1- 6 m. Therefore, aim of this review is to describe the importance of biosafety measures against SARS-CoV-2 that should be introduced in laboratories undertaking diagnosis/research on SARS-CoV-2/any mutant form of SARS- CoV-2 like omicron suspected samples. Keywords: Laboratory; Biosafety; Research; Diagnosis; Risk Assessment; SARS-CoV-2; COVID-19 1. Introduction The novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is associated with manifestation of a broad clinical spectrum. It is a highly infec- tious and contagious viral disease caused by the severe acute respi- ratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), a novel beta corona- virus. It’s not the deadliest virus mankind has seen, but, spreads quicker than SARS-CoV and Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus, MERS-CoV [29]. It was first identified and reported in December 2019 in Wuhan, China [14], and later the World Health Organization declared it a pandemic (WHO). The present COVID-19 pandemic has raised biosafety issues around the world and, espe- cially regarding the risk assessment or evaluation of the contained use of SARS-CoV-2 for laboratory activities. DOI: 10.31080/ASVS.2022.04.0487 Citation: Rajeev Ranjan. “Biosafety Measures for the Laboratories Engaged in the Diagnosis/Research of SARS-CoV-2". Acta Scientific Veterinary Sciences 4.8 (2022): 190-204.