Abstract
The European Virus Archive (EVA) project is a virtual virus collection for use in academic and industrial research. It not only provides viruses for fundamental research but also for the development of new diagnostic tests, vaccines and antiviral drugs. "Each laboratory keeps its own viral strains. We have developed a catalogue on the web. EVA is composed of core of 9 European laboratories associated with non-European partners including South Africa, Russia, Australia, China and USA. Previously, the exchange of viruses between laboratories was relying on the goodwill of researchers to collaborate with each other. Now the exchanges are standardized and benefit from a secure dispatching system. Since the start of the programme in 2009 EVA has distributed more than 2000 products worldwide, and the consortium has directly participated to the MERS-CoV crisis and currently to the EBOLA epidemic by providing free of charge materials for the diagnostic of the diseases under the WHO umbrella.
This first project constitutes the proof of concept of the new international bio-bank called EVAg (for European Virus Archive goes Global) including 25 partners and 10 associated partners which have been proposed to the EC in the context of the H2020.