TBFVnet: surveillance and research on tick-borne flaviviruses Regional Workshop

ICGEB, Trieste, Italy

27 – 28 March 2023

Organisers:

Alessandro Marcello and Tea Carletti (ICGEB Trieste, Italy)

In collaboration with:

TBFVnet is an international network of laboratories across Europe that study and survey Tick-Borne FlaviViruses (www.tbfvnet.eu). This initiative is funded by the EEA Norway Fund, which recognized that research, health and social priorities require a multidisciplinary and cross-border approach. Aim of TBFVnet is to develop tools and protocols and to transfer this know-how to neighboring countries.

Tick-borne flaviviruses (TBFVs) are viruses that are transmitted by ticks and that cause severe disease in humans and animals. TBFVs, particularly Tick-borne encephalitis virus (TBEV), are a health problem of concern in several areas of Central and Eastern Europe as well as in other countries. There are currently no antivirals for the treatment of TBFV infections. The only vaccine available is for TBEV.

TBFVnet is a project lead by the Veterinary Research Institute in Brno that brings together the Biomedical Research Center of the Slovak Academy of Science in Bratislava, The Norwegian Institute of Public Health and the International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology in Trieste, Italy. Additional associated laboratories from Sweden, Slovenia, Russia and Moldova are part of the enlarged area of interest of TBFVnet. This Regional Workshops brings together the members of the network with additional experts to update on the progress of the project and to learn about novel developments in research, diagnostics and surveillance.