Bio-labs around the world have existed under the radar for decades. However, their presences were made well-known at the start of the infamous Covid-19 Pandemic. Because of such catastrophic accidents, debates have sparked questioning the importance and safety of these labs.
The levels of these bio-labs vary depending on how dangerous the levels of pathogens and diseases are being explored in each in lab. For example, “BSL-1 labs are used to study infectious agents or toxins not known to consistently cause disease in healthy adults.” (Science Safety Security) Because these toxins pose a low-risk for deadly disease, these labs follow only basic safety procedures that do not require any specific equipment. As each level number rises, the risk of danger increases. “BSL-4 laboratories are used to study infectious agents or toxins that pose a high risk of aerosol-transmitted laboratory infections and life-threatening disease for which no vaccine or therapy is available.” (Science Safety Security) The Wuhan Institute of Virology is a level-4 bio-lab.
As the numbers of bio-labs across the world increase, it’s important to consider their locations. “Like the Wuhan Institute of Virology, three-quarters of the world’s BSL-4 labs are in urban centres.” (King’s College London). This raises a huge cause for concern, especially considering the catastrophe that began in 2019. For reasons not yet made public, the number of these labs around the world is unclear. Zhao Lijian, the Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman, tweeted a snippet from a press conference stating: “The US has 336 labs in 30 countries under its control, including 26 in Ukraine alone. It should give a full account of its biological military activities at home and abroad and subject itself to multilateral verification.” (OpIndia)
According to Global Biolabs, “Europe has 26 BSL-4 labs, Asia 20, North America 15, Oceania 4, Africa 3, and South American 1.” Additionally, “there are at least 69 BSL-4 labs in operation, under construction or planned around the world, significantly more than 10 years ago.” Just this month, BBC reported “The World Health Organization (WHO) says there’s a ‘high risk of biological hazard’ at a laboratory caught up in the ongoing conflict in Sudan.” Because of the current military conflict in Sudan and this bio-lab’s location, this puts civilians at an unfathomable risk. Having labs in major cities, especially ones that are politically unstable, will continue to pose an alarming threat to its locations’ surrounding inhabitants.
Although the true number of labs around the world has not yet been made public, this does not negate an inherent cause for concern when considering their locations. Regardless of how many bio-labs have been built, or are in production, the locations of these labs remains imperative for the safety of surrounding civilians, should there be another accidental breach in standards of safety operations.
