ICMR-National Institute for Research in Bacterial Infections

ICMR-National Institute for Research in Bacterial Infections (NIRBI), previously known as the National Institute of Cholera and Enteric Diseases (NICED), is located in Kolkata, West Bengal. It was established by the Indian Council of Medical Research as a cholera research centre at Kyd Street, Kolkata, and was renamed NICED in 1979. In 1980, it received WHO recognition as a Collaborative Centre for Research and Training on Diarrhoeal Diseases, having earlier gained status as an International Reference Centre for Vibrio Phage Typing in 1968. The institute operates a Viral Diagnostic and Research Laboratory (VRDL), established in 2015, and founded India's first National Antimicrobial Resistance Hub in 2019. During the COVID-19 pandemic, its scientists played a key diagnostic role. In 2022, it planned a rural health research unit at North Bengal Medical College and Hospital, and in early 2026, a mobile BSL-3 laboratory was set up in Beliaghata, Kolkata, for Nipah virus diagnostics. The institute collaborates academically with Okayama University and has developed a licensed Shigella vaccine. It is affiliated with the Academy of Scientific and Innovative Research and funded by ICMR.