Installation of BSL-3 Laboratories and ABSL-3 Animal Experimentation Rooms in a Preexisting BSL-3Ag Facility: Design, Implementation, Validation, Time Requirements, and Costs

The Institute of Virology and Immunoprophylaxis (IVI) in Switzerland is a governmental biosafety level 3 agricultural (BSL-3Ag) facility involved in the diagnosis, surveillance, and control of highly contagious epizootics, such as foot and mouth disease or classical swine fever. It consists of an animal unit and a laboratory unit, which are interconnected in the same building. Although the shell of the facility corresponds to a biosafety level 4 (BSL-4) facility with respect to the environment (BSL-3Ag), in most cases people inside work at BSL-1 and -2. When the avian influenza type A (H5N1) epidemics reached their climax in Europe a few years ago, the Swiss veterinary services needed a reference laboratory for diagnosis and research of avian influenza Type A virus strains. However, since some highly pathogenic strains for avian influenza belong to risk group 3, it was necessary to integrate a new BSL-3 laboratory into the existing facility. Furthermore, four stables originally used for large animal experiments had to be retrofitted to comply with the ABSL-3 (animal biosafety level) standard to perform in vivo studies with zoonotic agents, in particular with avian influenza H5N1. This article addresses the process, the new system, the validation, the encountered problems, the time requirement, and the personnel and financial resources for this reconstruction within a BSL-3Ag facility.