Workplan for the set-up and operation of the EURL for public health in the field of Vector-borne viral pathogens

The EC has established a network of European Union Reference Laboratories for public health (EURL-PH) to support the EC, the ECDC and National Reference Laboratories (NRLs) to identify, assess and communicate threats to human health from (re-) emerging infectious diseases. The EURLs provide a framework of functional capacities that meet certain standards and fulfil specified functions in the field of laboratory (lab) science and services. The EURL-PH-VBV will operate in the expertise field of vector-borne viral pathogens. Examples of emerging events with an increasing pressure on Public Health systems in the EU/EEA are the increasing emergence of viruses transmitted by Aedes-mosquitoes such as dengue virus and chikungunya virus and of the tick-borne viruses causing Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever and tick-borne encephalitis. The EURL-PH-VBV will provide in the expertise field of vector-borne viruses: * access to rapid (reference) diagnostics, virus characterization, lab 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 specialized diagnostic portfolio, reliable virus detection capacity and capability (including support of overall surge capacity if needed), * capacity/capability strengthening in the NRL-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 (lab intelligence). * face-to-face meetings to strengthen the coherence of the lab network and knowledge exchange, * active communication, coordination with NRL-network, ECDC, the EURL-PH network, the EURLs on equine diseases and IVD on arboviruses, VectorNet and other initiatives and research projects within its scope.