The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, which started in China, has created a panic among the general public and health care/laboratory workers. Thus far, there is no medication or vaccine to prevent and control the spread of COVID-19. As the virus is airborne and transmitted through droplets, there has been significant demand for face masks and other personal protective equipment to prevent the spread of infection. Health care and laboratory workers who come in close contact with infected people or material are at a high risk of infection. Therefore, robust biosafety measures are required at hospitals and laboratories to prevent the spread of COVID-19. Various diagnostic platforms including of serological, molecular and other advanced tools and techniques have been designed and developed for rapid detection of SARS-CoV-2 and each has its own merits and demerits. Molecular assays such as real-time reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (rRT-PCR) has been used worldwide for diagnosis of COVID-19. Samples such as nasal swabs or oropharyngeal swabs are used for rRT-PCR. Laboratory acquired infection has been a significant problem worldwide, which has gained importance during the current pandemic as the samples for rRT-PCR may contain intact virus with serious threat. COVID-19 can spread to workers during the sampling, transportation, processing, and disposal of tested samples. Here, we present an overview on advances in diagnosis of COVID-19 and details the issues associated with biosafety procedures and potential safety precautions to be followed during collection, transportation, and processing of COVID-19 samples for laboratory diagnosis so as to avoid virus infection.

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Aim:The present study was conducted to determine efficacy of edible coating of carrageenan and cinnamon oil to enhance the shelf life of chicken meat stored under refrigeration conditions.Materials and Methods:Chicken breast was coated with carrageenan and cinnamon oil by three methods of application viz., spraying brushing and dipping. The coated meat was evaluated for drip loss, pH, thiobarbituric acid number (TBA), tyrosine value (TV), extract release volume (ERV), Warner-Bratzler shear force value (WBSFV), instrumental color, microbiological, and sensory qualities as per standard procedures.Results:There was a significant difference observed for physicochemical parameters (pH, TBA, TV, ERV, drip loss and WBSFV) and microbiological analysis between storage periods in all the samples and between the control and treatments throughout the storage period but samples did not differed significantly for hunter color scores. However, there was no significant difference among three methods of application throughout the storage period though dipping had a lower rate of increase. A progressive decline in mean sensory scores was recorded along with the increase in storage time.Conclusion:The carrageenan and cinnamon edible coating was found to be a good alternative to enhance the shelf life of chicken meat under refrigeration conditions. It was also observed from study that dipping method of the application had comparatively higher shelf life than other methods of application.

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A study was conducted for extraction of chondroitin sulphate (CS) from buffalo tracheal, nasal and joint cartilages. CS was extracted from cartilages using 0.25% papain digestion, dialyzed, precipitated with 10% TCA and finally lyophilized to dry powder. Dimethylmethylene blue assay was performed to estimate the quantity of CS extracted. Identification of extracted CS was performed with SDS-PAGE and Fourier transforms infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). SDS-PAGE analysis of extracted CS revealed similar electrophoretic pattern to that of standard and the molecular weight ranged from 5 to 20 kDa. FTIR spectra of extracted CS revealed presence of characteristic peaks of –CONH vibration of amide group, coupling of C–O stretching vibration, S=O stretching vibrations and –C–O–S molecules confirms the CS moiety. It can be concluded that extraction method adopted could efficiently be utilized for the extraction of CS from buffalo by-products like tracheal, nasal and joint cartilages.

Rabies in domestic and wild animals continues to be a major public health threat in India. Rapid and accurate diagnosis of rabies in animals is therefore of utmost importance as the individuals who were in contact with the rabid animals are at a greater risk. A significant amount of diagnostic tissue samples submitted to our laboratory are often autolysed and the WHO recommended direct fluorescent antibody test (FAT) for rabies diagnosis cannot be used in such samples. In this pilot study we have evaluated three different diagnostic primer sets for rapid sensitive and specific detection of rabies genome from the brain samples of different species of animals. We have validated a sensitive RT-PCR assay using brain tissue samples from different species of animals such as cat, cattle, dog, mouse and human, for routine diagnosis of rabies. Our results show the potential of this assay as a confirmatory test when the FAT results are unreliable and also as an alternative diagnostic test in circumstances when the diagnostic samples are unsuitable for use in FAT. Furthermore the nucleotide sequence of nucleoprotein gene amplified using this assay can also be used for the molecular epidemiological study of the rabies viruses in India.Keywords Rabies Á India Á Diagnosis Á FAT Á RT-PCR Animal and human rabies are endemic throughout the Indian subcontinent with the exception of Andaman and Nicobar Islands. The causative agent, rabies virus (family: Rhabdoviridae; genus: Lyssavirus) is largely maintained in two ecologically inter-related disease cycles; urban and sylvatic (wildlife). Although, dog is primarily responsible for rabies transmission to humans in India [3], wildlife plays a much lesser but not insignificant role in transmission [15]. It has been reported that more than 96 % of rabies incidence in India are the result of contact with infected dogs. In addition, rabies was reported as a result of contact with infected jackals in 1.7 %, cats in 0.8 %, monkeys in 0.4 %, mongooses in 0.4 %, and foxes in 3 % of the cases [3]. Therefore ante and post mortem diagnosis of rabies in animals is of utmost importance as the animals and human beings who come in contact with these rabid animals are at a greater risk of contracting the disease. The most widely used diagnostic test for rabies is the fluorescent antibody test (FAT), which is recommended by both WHO and OIE [17]. This 'gold standard' test may be used directly on a brain tissue impression smear and can also be used to confirm the presence of rabies antigen in cell culture or in brain tissue of mice that have been inoculated for diagnostic purposes. Although, the FAT gives reliable results on fresh specimens within a few hours in more than 95-99 % of the cases [17], autolysed tissue samples can reduce the sensitivity of this test and often are unsuitable for confirming the presence of rabies antigen. Classical reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR)