The European Union Reference Laboratory for Public Health on Vector-borne Viral Pathogens (EURL-PH-VBV) is one of nine European Union Reference Laboratories for Public Health designated by the European Commission (EC). The EURL-VBV-PH is operational since 1 January 2025 and is part of the Emerging and Vector-borne Disease network (EVD-Net) at the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC).
The EURL supports national expert laboratories (NEL), ECDC and EC in the field of arboviruses, for example viruses transmitted by ticks, mosquitoes, sandflies and midges. It provides general, case- and country-specific scientific and technical support on pathogen specifics, on detection and characterisation methods, on result interpretation in relation to EU (European Union ) lab case-definitions, on laboratory surveillance, preparedness, and response, and will promote uniformity in lab tests/ activities to generate standardised data across the EU.
Vector-borne viral diseases
Arboviruses exert an increasing pressure on health globally. An estimated 4 billion people are at risk for infections by viruses transmitted by Aedes spp. mosquitoes like dengue virus (DENV), chikungunya virus (CHIKV) and Zika virus (ZIKV). The geographical range of these viruses is expected to continue to expand, driven by rapid urbanisation, climate change and globalisation in travel and trade. Local transmission of these originally (sub)tropical viruses is being reported increasingly in the EU (European Union ) from areas with established Aedes albopictus populations. Culex spp. -borne West Nile virus (WNV) has been endemic for many decades in Central and Southern European countries, but in recent years autochthonous cases have been confirmed as north as Germany and the Netherlands. Furthermore, viruses transmitted by ticks such as tick-borne encephalitis virus (TBEV) and Crimean Congo Haemorrhagic fever virus (CCHFV) are emerging and expanding their geographic range in Europe while in southern Europe, diseases caused by viruses transmitted by sandflies are thought to be underdiagnosed. The EURL supports the EU in health laboratory systems strengthening for arbovirus detection and characterisation.
Objectives
The EURL-PH-VBV aims to provide expertise in the field of vector-borne viruses through the following objectives:
Access to rapid (reference) diagnostics, virus characterisation, laboratory protocols, expert advice, and reference materials to establish or exclude an arbovirus infection according to EU-case definitions.
- A state-of-the-art routine and specialised diagnostic portfolio, reliable virus detection capacity and capability (including support of overall surge capacity if needed),
- Capacity/capability strengthening in the associated NEL- network through training and External Quality Assessment schemes based on identified knowledge gaps and needs within the network,
- Access to high-level expertise, essential technical and scientific information on specific arbovirus orders, families, genera, and species,
- Monitoring and (early)-alert notification support (laboratory intelligence).
- Face-to-face meetings to strengthen the coherence of the NELs and knowledge exchange
- Active communication and coordination with other EURLs, organsiations, initiatives and research projects within its scope.
Duration
The EURL-PH-VBV has been designated for a period of seven years. The kick-off meeting is scheduled 10 February 2025. In the first years, the EURL will focus on specific activities around two important threats for public health in the EU/EEA: emerging Aedes-borne viruses with demonstrated potential for local transmission and Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever (CCHFV) emergence.
Funding
EURL Vector-borne Viral Pathogens is funded by the European Union
Contact
For more information, please send us an e-mail EURL-PH-VBV@rivm.nl