The European Commission is mobilising €10 million for urgently needed research on the Zika virus in response to the upsurge in cases of severe congenital brain malformations across Latin America, and their suspected link to Zika virus infections. If the link is proven, this money could be used to combat the Zika virus, for example, by developing diagnostics and testing potential treatments or vaccines.
Horizon 2020 already offers a number of opportunities to finance projects that can help in the fight against Zika. These include:
€40 million call for research on vaccine development for malaria and neglected infectious diseases, which includes the Zika virus;
€10 million for research infrastructures for vector control, including the mosquitos that spread Zika;
There is also the ERA-NET programme under FP7:
Prevention of infectious diseases in Latin America and the Caribbean
As well as launching new funding for Zika research, in December 2015 the European Commission contacted a number of ongoing research projects on dengue and other diseases related to Zika. These researchers have been asked to urgently refocus their work to the ongoing Zika epidemic.
GloPID-R, a network of international research funders chaired by the European Commission, has held meetings to decide on research priorities and prevent duplications in funded research.
Read more: https://ec.europa.eu/research/health/index.cfm?pg=area&areaname=zika