International
China steps up security against bio-terrorism

Beijing (PTI): China has stepped up security at veterinary laboratories here as part of efforts to tackle bio-terrorism threat during next summer's Olympics here.

Twenty seven veterinary laboratories in Beijing have signed guarantee with the Beijing Agriculture Bureau, pledging not to allow any leaks of disease-causing microorganisms during the games, state-run China Daily said.

The bureau has asked the labs to set up their own safety management committee and would launch monthly safety inspections to find any loopholes in safety management, the newspaper said.

The campaign was also designed to increase public awareness to fight against biological weapons and the leakage of harmful bacteria, fungi, viruses and toxins, a senior official said.

Supervision of the deadly microorganisms that cause animal diseases would be intensified apart from a crackdown on unauthorized preservation, use and transport of such micro-organisms, Li Quanlu, director of the Beijing Animal Health Supervision Institute, said.

Veterinary labs would also have by the end of this month standardised signs to raise public awareness of bio-safety and bio-disaster prevention, he said.

A regulation was put in place to tighten the management of biological laboratories in late 2004 after two people were infected with the SARS virus at a lab operated by the Chinese Centre for Disease Control and Prevention.

International

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