PESHAWAR: The health department has deployed a high-tech Biosafety-2 mobile labin the flood-hit Buner district for the timely detection of and prompt response to the outbreak of communicable diseases.
Officials said the initiative was meant to ensure early detection of diseases like acute watery diarrhea (cholera), malaria and dengue to prevent their outbreaks.
Deputy director (public health) Dr Mussawir Manzoor told Dawn that samples were sent to the Public Health Reference Laboratory at the Khyber Medical University but the exercise took a long time to produce results.
“Now, the mobile lab with similar facilities has been stationed in Category D Hospital Pir Baba in Buner district to process the tests locally,” he said.
Official says initiative to prevent outbreak of infectious diseases
A report by the Integrated Disease Surveillance and Response System (IDSRS) of the public health section at the directorate-general (health services) said that 11 flood-hit districts had so far recorded 44,684 cases of communicable diseases, including 4,206 in the last 24 hours.
It said the cases of scabies, malaria, eye infections, respiratory infection, acute watery diarrhea and bloody diarrhea continued to be reported.
“It is important to deploy the mobile lab and timely diagnose cases to prevent outbreak of infectious diseases through enhanced surveillance,” the deputy director said.
He said the department had been working in collaboration with the district health officer in Buner to focus on the areas reporting most cases.
“If health workers are reporting around 10 or more cases of diarrhea from a house or cluster, then we will test the water to ascertain the causes and take preventive steps,” he said.
The official said fellows from the Field Epidemiology Training Programme at the Provincial Disease Surveillance and Response Unit were in the areas to examine the quantum of diseases and provide assistance on outbreak detection before swinging into action.
He said as the relief phase after the flooding was over, the department feared the spread of diseases, so surveillance was of critical importance to control the situation. “The mobile lab has all the latest equipment backed by highly trained microbiologists and pathologists to conduct blood culture tests for all diseases and save the situation from snowballing into a major public health issue,” he said.
Dr Manzoor said all medical camps in district hospitals had been informed about the rapid diagnostic testing facilities at the mobile lab to send samples for prompt diagnosis.
“The mobile lab has the equipment and lab scientists just like PHRL,” he said.
The official said the lab would also be used in the natural and man-made calamities in the future to ensure that diseases are diagnosed on time and preventive measures are taken against them.
Published in Dawn, August 31st, 2025