Viruses, bacteria & the places that study them

Where are the world’s biolabs?

Biological laboratories help scientists identify infections, develop vaccines and treatments, and protect people and animals. Click a point to see what an institution studies, or click a blue country to explore its laboratories.

This map focuses on institutions with special facilities for studying serious infections. It does not include every biological laboratory in the world.

Quick explore

Find a laboratory, country or diseaseWhat do they study?Show former laboratories and projects

These appear in grey. Their source describes them as closed, planned or not operating at the stated protection level.

How to read this map

Red point: a laboratory or research institution. Click it to learn what it does.

Grey point: a former laboratory, a project or a facility with restricted operation in the source.

Blue country: contains at least one institution currently shown on this map.

A number inside a circle: several entries are close together. Click to zoom in.

Points may mark a city or an institution’s campus rather than an exact laboratory building. Each description tells you which.

Why do scientists study dangerous infections?

To find out what causes an illness, how it spreads and how to stop it. Laboratories can develop diagnostic tests, test vaccines and treatments, and investigate infections that threaten livestock or can move from animals to people.

A research institution can study several diseases in different laboratories. A named research topic here does not mean that every building works with that organism.

What do BSL-3 and BSL-4 mean?

BSL means biosafety level: the protective arrangements used for particular laboratory work.

BSL-3: extra protection for work with organisms that can cause serious illness, including through inhalation.

BSL-4: the highest numbered level, with stricter isolation and specialized protection for work with certain particularly hazardous organisms.

BSL-3+: additional safeguards beyond BSL-3. The exact meaning varies between facilities.

These labels describe protection for laboratory work. They do not tell you which experiment is being performed or measure a country’s danger.

WHO laboratory biosafety manual ↗

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Map background

Blue Marble is a global satellite-image mosaic, not live imagery.

Questions about biological laboratories

Where are high-containment biological laboratories located?

They operate in many countries and support public health, animal health and research. This map presents 85 selected institutions, facilities, projects and historical sites in 31 countries. It is not a complete global registry.

What do biological laboratories study?

They investigate viruses, bacteria and infectious diseases, develop diagnostic tests, and evaluate vaccines and treatments. Each map entry names research topics only when the cited sources identify them.

What is the difference between BSL-3 and BSL-4?

Biosafety levels describe safeguards for particular laboratory work. BSL-3 includes additional protection for organisms that can cause serious disease, including through inhalation. BSL-4 uses stricter isolation and specialised protection for certain particularly hazardous organisms. A level does not identify a specific experiment.

Is the Wuhan Institute of Virology on this map?

Yes. Use the Wuhan button or search for Wuhan, COVID-19 or coronaviruses. Its entry includes documented institute research topics and selected media coverage. The map does not establish the origin of COVID-19.

Where was the Soviet laboratory in the shrinking Aral Sea?

The former Aralsk-7 complex was on Vozrozhdeniya Island near Kantubek. It closed and was evacuated in 1992. The map shows it in grey as a historical site, rather than an operating laboratory.

Does WHO publish a complete current registry of these laboratories?

The WHO meeting report used here includes a historical high-containment facility table, with a corrected annex published in 2022. It is not a complete current register of all biological laboratories worldwide.

How accurate are the laboratory locations?

Some points identify an institution or campus; others mark only a city, locality or country. The entry explains the location accuracy. Research topics are not an inventory of pathogens held in individual rooms.

What do the map colours mean?

Red points identify laboratory or research institution entries. Grey points identify former sites, projects or restricted operations described by the sources. Blue countries contain entries currently displayed. Numbered circles group nearby points.

Laboratory directory by country

Browse the same entries as the map. Approximate locations and historical or planned sites are identified in each entry.

Argentina

National Service of Healthcare and Agriculture Quality (SENASA) (Buenos Aires). Tests for foot-and-mouth disease, a contagious viral disease of livestock. Source.
Institute of Virology, National Institute of Agricultural Technology (INTA) (Hurlingham / Castelar). Research and laboratory testing related to animal diseases. The WHO table does not name individual viruses or bacteria for this entry. Source.

Australia

Australian Centre for Disease Preparedness (Geelong, Victoria). Studies infections in animals and develops ways to detect and control them. Different areas of the centre use different levels of protection. Source.
Victorian Infectious Diseases Reference Laboratory (Melbourne, Victoria). Helps diagnose serious infections in people and provides a high-security laboratory for human pathogens. Source.
Emerging Infectious Diseases and Biohazard Response Unit, Westmead Hospital (Westmead). Research and laboratory testing related to human infections. The WHO table does not name individual viruses or bacteria for this entry. Source.

Belarus

Republican Research and Practical Center for Epidemiology and Microbiology (RPPCM) (Minsk). Studies or helps diagnose infectious diseases. The sources used here do not identify specific viruses or bacteria for this facility. Source.

Brazil

Laboratório Nacional Agropecuário de Minas Gerais (Lanagro/MG) (Pedro Leopoldo, Minas Gerais). Tests for diseases affecting livestock, including foot-and-mouth disease. Source.
Laboratório Nacional de Máxima Contenção Biológica (LNMCB) (Campinas, São Paulo). A high-containment laboratory project described in the sources. A current opening date and specific research agents have not been confirmed here. Source.
Pan American Foot-and-Mouth Disease Center (PANAFTOSA) (Duque de Caxias). Research and laboratory testing related to foot-and-mouth disease. The WHO table does not name individual viruses or bacteria for this entry. Source.

Canada

National Microbiology Laboratory (Winnipeg, Manitoba). A Canadian centre for laboratory diagnosis and research into infectious diseases. It shares its campus with animal-health laboratories. Source.
Vaccine and Infectious Disease Organization (Saskatoon, Saskatchewan). Researches infectious diseases and vaccines at the University of Saskatchewan. Source.
National Centre for Foreign Animal Disease (Winnipeg). Research and laboratory testing related to animal diseases. The WHO table does not name individual viruses or bacteria for this entry. Source.

China

Wuhan Institute of Virology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (Wuhan, Hubei). Studies viruses, how they infect their hosts, and ways to develop vaccines and antiviral treatments. Published institute descriptions include coronaviruses, influenza, HIV and Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever virus. These are institute-wide research topics, not a list of agents used in every laboratory room. Research on coronaviruses is documented; the origin of COVID-19 is not established by this map. Source.
Harbin Veterinary Research Institute of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (Harbin, Heilongjiang). Studies major infectious diseases of animals and ways to prevent and control them. Source.
Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention: Beijing BSL-4 project (Beijing). Research and laboratory testing related to human infections. The WHO table does not name individual viruses or bacteria for this entry. Source.
Fudan University — high-containment research laboratory (Shanghai). Fudan reported work with Shanghai CDC to isolate SARS-CoV-2 and study potential treatments in their BSL-3 laboratories. This point identifies the university’s research, not a verified laboratory room. Source.
Institute of Medical Biology, CAMS — Kunming high-containment primate research centre (Kunming). Studies infectious diseases using animal models, including published research on SARS-CoV-2. These studies help evaluate disease mechanisms and potential medical interventions. Source.

Cote d'Ivoire

Institut Pasteur de Côte d’Ivoire: high-containment project (Côte d’Ivoire). Research and laboratory testing related to human infections. The WHO table does not name individual viruses or bacteria for this entry. Source.

Czech Republic

Biological Defense Center (Těchonín, Pardubice Region). A military medical facility for research and protection against biological threats. Source.
Laboratory for Biological Monitoring and Protection, National Institute for Nuclear, Chemical and Biological Protection (Kamenná, near Milín). Research and laboratory testing related to human infections. The WHO table does not name individual viruses or bacteria for this entry. Source.

Denmark

National Veterinary Institute, Technical University of Denmark (Denmark). Research and laboratory testing related to animal diseases. The WHO table does not name individual viruses or bacteria for this entry. Source.

France

French Armed Biomedical Research Institute, French Defence Health Service (Brétigny-sur-Orge, Essonne). A French military biomedical research institution. Source.
Jean Mérieux BSL-4 Laboratory (Lyon, Metropolis of Lyon). A high-containment research laboratory operated by the French medical research institute INSERM. Source.
French general directorate of armaments (DGA) (Vert-le-Petit, Essonne). A laboratory operated by France’s Ministry of Defence. Source.

Gabon

Centre International de Recherches Médicales de Franceville (Franceville, Haut-Ogooué Province). A medical research centre in Gabon with high-containment facilities. Source.

Germany

Robert Koch Institute (Berlin). Studies and diagnoses infectious diseases at Germany’s national public-health institute. Source.
Bernhard Nocht Institute for Tropical Medicine (Hamburg). Studies tropical infections and helps identify tropical viruses. Source.
Friedrich Loeffler Institute (Greifswald, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern). Studies animal infections, including foot-and-mouth disease, African swine fever and rabies. Source.
Philipps University of Marburg (Marburg, Hesse). Studies viruses that cause haemorrhagic fevers, illnesses that can affect blood vessels and sometimes cause bleeding. Source.

Hungary

National Center for Epidemiology (Budapest). Identifies and studies serious viral infections, including infections that can pass between animals and people. Source.
University of Pécs (Pécs, Baranya County). A university research centre with a high-containment laboratory for infectious-disease work. Source.

India

National Institute of High Security Animal Disease (Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh). Studies emerging infections and organisms that can move between animals and people. Source.
National Institute of Virology (Pune, Maharashtra). An Indian virology institute with high-containment facilities for studying viruses. Source.
CSIR Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (Hyderabad). Studies bacterial and viral infections, including tuberculosis and SARS-CoV-2, to support understanding of disease and development of interventions. Source.
IIT Delhi — BSL-3 research facility (New Delhi). Opened in August 2025 to support research involving infectious pathogens and testing of medical devices, diagnostic tools and treatments. The opening announcement does not identify a complete list of organisms. Source.
Defence Research and Development Establishment — BSL-4 laboratory (Gwalior). A defence research facility with a BSL-4 laboratory inaugurated in November 2024. It supports protection against biological threats. The cited opening report does not provide a verified inventory of pathogens. Source.
Gujarat Biotechnology Research Centre — BSL-4 project (Gandhinagar). A high-containment project whose foundation stone was laid in January 2026. Public descriptions name these diseases as intended research or testing areas. This entry does not imply that the laboratory is operating or already holds these organisms. Source.

Italy

Istituto Nazionale per le Malattie Infettive (Rome, Lazio). A specialist institute and hospital for infectious diseases, with laboratories at different protection levels. Source.
Ospedale Luigi Sacco (Milan, Lombardy). Studies or helps diagnose infectious diseases. The sources used here do not identify specific viruses or bacteria for this facility. Source.

Japan

National Institute for Infectious Diseases (Musashimurayama, Tokyo). A Japanese infectious-disease institute with a maximum-containment facility. Source.
Nagasaki University (Nagasaki, Nagasaki Prefecture). A university facility for studying serious infectious diseases. Source.
Institute of Physical and Chemical Research (RIKEN) (Tsukuba, Ibaraki Prefecture). This facility was built with maximum-containment capacity, but the source says it was not operated at BSL-4 because of local opposition. Source.

Netherlands

Wageningen Bioveterinary Research (Netherlands). Research and laboratory testing related to animal diseases. The WHO table does not name individual viruses or bacteria for this entry. Source.

New Zealand

National Biocontainment Laboratory, Ministry for Primary Industries (Wallaceville, Upper Hutt). Research and laboratory testing related to animal diseases. The WHO table does not name individual viruses or bacteria for this entry. Source.

Philippines

Virology Institute of the Philippines (New Clark City, Capas, Tarlac). A high-containment laboratory project described in the sources. A current opening date and specific research agents have not been confirmed here. Source.

Russia

48th Central Scientific Research Institute Sergiev Posad (Sergiyev Posad, Moscow Oblast). Studies or helps diagnose infectious diseases. The sources used here do not identify specific viruses or bacteria for this facility. Source.
State Research Center of Virology and Biotechnology (VECTOR) (Koltsovo, Novosibirsk Oblast). One of the two WHO-authorized repositories for live smallpox virus. Research supports the development and evaluation of diagnostic tests, vaccines and antiviral treatments. Source.
Irkutsk Anti-Plague Research Institute of Siberia and the Far East (Irkutsk). An anti-plague institute that studies and helps respond to bacterial infections, including plague, tularemia and brucellosis. Source.

Saudi Arabia

National Health Laboratory: BSL-4 project (Saudi Arabia). Research and laboratory testing related to human infections. The WHO table does not name individual viruses or bacteria for this entry. Source.

Singapore

DSO National Laboratories (Central Region). A high-containment laboratory project described in the sources. A current opening date and specific research agents have not been confirmed here. Source.

South Africa

National Institute for Communicable Diseases (Johannesburg, Gauteng). Helps diagnose serious viral infections, including Ebola, Marburg, Lassa fever, rabies and Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever. Source.

South Korea

Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Cheongju, North Chungcheong Province). Studies or helps diagnose infectious diseases. The sources used here do not identify specific viruses or bacteria for this facility. Source.

Spain

GlaxoSmithKline plc (Tres Cantos, Community of Madrid). Studies or helps diagnose infectious diseases. The sources used here do not identify specific viruses or bacteria for this facility. Source.
Centre for Research into Animal Health (CReSA), UAB / IRTA (Bellaterra, Barcelona). Research and laboratory testing related to animal diseases. The WHO table does not name individual viruses or bacteria for this entry. Source.

Sweden

Public Health Agency of Sweden (Solna, Stockholm County). Researches and diagnoses viruses that cause haemorrhagic fevers. Source.

Switzerland

University Hospital of Geneva (Geneva, Canton of Geneva). A hospital virology laboratory used primarily for testing clinical samples. Source.
Spiez Laboratory (Spiez, Canton of Bern). Identifies highly pathogenic bacteria, including those that cause anthrax, plague and tularemia, and supports protection against biological threats. Source.
The Institute of Virology and Immunology IVI (Mittelhäusern, Canton of Bern). Diagnoses highly pathogenic viruses as part of Switzerland’s veterinary and food-safety work. Source.
Institute of Medical Virology, University of Zurich (Zurich). Research and laboratory testing related to human infections. The WHO table does not name individual viruses or bacteria for this entry. Source.

Taiwan

National Defense University – Institute of Preventive Medicine (Taipei). Studies or helps diagnose infectious diseases. The sources used here do not identify specific viruses or bacteria for this facility. Source.
Kwen-yang Laboratory [zh] (Taipei). Studies or helps diagnose infectious diseases. The sources used here do not identify specific viruses or bacteria for this facility. Source.

United Kingdom

Francis Crick Institute (Camden, Greater London). A biomedical research institute with high-containment space. The Wikipedia description says its BSL-4 space does not work on human pathogens. Source.
Public Health England's Centre for Infections (Colindale, Greater London). A public-health laboratory for diagnosing viral diseases. Source.
National Institute for Medical Research (Mill Hill, Greater London). Former research and diagnostic laboratory for highly pathogenic viruses. It closed in 2017; work moved to the Francis Crick Institute. Source.
National Institute for Biological Standards and Control (Potters Bar, Hertfordshire). Develops laboratory tests and reference materials used in research on serious infections. Source.
Animal and Plant Health Agency (Addlestone, Surrey). Studies and diagnoses animal diseases for the UK’s animal-health agency. Source.
Institute for Animal Health (Pirbright, Surrey). The Pirbright Institute studies viral infections affecting livestock, including foot-and-mouth disease, bluetongue and African swine fever. Source.
Merial Animal Health (Pirbright, Surrey). Produces vaccines against foot-and-mouth disease and bluetongue, two viral diseases of livestock. Source.
UK Health Security Agency (Porton Down, Wiltshire). Researches and diagnoses viruses that cause haemorrhagic fevers. Source.
Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Porton Down, Wiltshire). Develops protection against biological threats for the UK’s defence sector. Source.

United States

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Atlanta, Georgia). One of the two WHO-authorized repositories for live smallpox virus. Research supports the development and evaluation of diagnostic tests, vaccines and antiviral treatments. Source.
Georgia State University (Atlanta, Georgia). Studies B virus, a virus associated with macaque monkeys that can cause serious illness in people. Source.
National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility (NBAF) (Manhattan, Kansas). A US facility for studying serious animal diseases and threats to agriculture. Source.
National Institutes of Health (NIH) (Bethesda, Maryland). The Bethesda facility has maximum-containment space, but the Wikipedia description says it operates with BSL-3 agents. Source.
Integrated Research Facility (Fort Detrick, Maryland). Studies human infections using disease models to support diagnostics and treatments. Source.
National Biodefense Analysis and Countermeasures Center (Fort Detrick, Maryland). Studies biological threats and supports responses to suspected biological attacks. Source.
US Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases (USAMRIID) (Fort Detrick, Maryland). Researches infectious-disease threats and protection for the US military. Source.
National Emerging Infectious Diseases Laboratory (NEIDL), Boston University (Boston, Massachusetts). Studies emerging infectious diseases and ways to prevent or treat them. Published research includes Ebola, Marburg, SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19), HIV, Zika and yellow fever. Source.
Rocky Mountain Laboratories Integrated Research Facility (Hamilton, Montana). Studies serious viral infections, including Ebola and Marburg, as well as infections transmitted by insects and ticks. Source.
Galveston National Laboratory, National Biocontainment Facility (Galveston, Texas). A university research facility for high-containment infectious-disease work. Source.
Shope Laboratory (Galveston, Texas). A high-containment laboratory at the University of Texas Medical Branch. Source.
Texas Biomedical Research Institute (San Antonio, Texas). A privately operated research institute with high-containment facilities. Source.
Virginia Division of Consolidated Laboratories (Richmond, Virginia). A public-health laboratory that can perform work at different protection levels. Source.
Plum Island Animal Disease Center / Foreign Animal Disease Diagnostic Laboratory (Plum Island). Research and laboratory testing related to animal diseases. The WHO table does not name individual viruses or bacteria for this entry. Source.

Uzbekistan

Aralsk-7 / Vozrozhdeniya Island — former Soviet testing site (Former island in the Aral Sea). A former Soviet biological weapons research and testing complex near Kantubek on Vozrozhdeniya Island. Work ended and the base was evacuated in 1992. The island became joined to the mainland as the Aral Sea shrank. This is a historical site, not an active public-health laboratory. Source.

Sources and credits

The institution descriptions combine Wikipedia’s public facility list with WHO’s corrected high-containment laboratory table. Entries referring to the same institution have been matched. Different units on one campus may remain separate entries.

Wikipedia: high-containment laboratories. Wikipedia contributors. Adapted and summarized under CC BY-SA 4.0. Institution articles are linked in their descriptions.

WHO: high-containment laboratories meeting report (2018), using the corrected Annex 2 (2022). This table describes the earlier reporting period, not the operating status of every institution today. WHO publication reuse: CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO, subject to the original notice. WHO-derived descriptions are for noncommercial educational use under corresponding CC BY-NC-SA terms.

WHO: research using live smallpox virus and laboratory inspection reports. These provide additional information for CDC and VECTOR.

Entry photographs and logos are bundled inside this HTML, so opening an entry does not request Wikipedia’s APIs or an external image server. Institution or site articles are checked first, followed by the settlement article. Only images with a verified Creative Commons attribution/share-alike licence, CC0 or public-domain notice are used. Each image shows its author, licence and original Commons file page. Logos may also be subject to trademark rights. Settlement images are labelled clearly and do not depict the laboratory. Images are resized and converted to WebP without cropping.

Research topics for selected institutions also use short factual summaries of their published institutional research descriptions. Their original pages are linked with each entry.

Muluneh et al. (2025), Mapping biosafety level 3 (BSL-3) and BSL-4 laboratories for public health threats reduction, CC BY 4.0. Background reading on global distribution and gaps in public information. Country totals from that study are not used to colour this map.

WHO’s collaborating-centres database, influenza laboratory list and TB laboratory network describe other types of institutions. Membership alone does not identify a high-containment facility, so those entire networks are not plotted here.

Country boundaries (detailed Natural Earth geometry): Natural Earth, public domain. Background: OpenFreeMap, OpenMapTiles and © OpenStreetMap contributors. Selected location records: OpenStreetMap, ODbL. Satellite mosaic: NASA GIBS Blue Marble.

Sources can describe different dates, protection levels and operating statuses. When they differ, the institution’s description says so. A country without blue shading may still have laboratories that are not included here. These sources do not establish where an outbreak originated.

Crimea and Sevastopol are shown as part of Ukraine, consistent with the EU’s non-recognition policy. Country shading shows entries in this exhibit, not political control.

Recent News contains selected media links from the last ten years, checked on 8 October 2026. Original reporting remains with its publishers; this map uses links and brief original factual summaries. Coverage is not exhaustive and allegations are not treated as established findings.

Map revised 8 October 2026. An independent educational exhibit by The Museum of Maps. Source organizations have not endorsed this map.

Laboratory / research institution

Former site, project or restricted operation

Country with entries on this map