This application is a 5-year competitive renewal for grant 5 RO1 AI 10984, which is now in its 29th year of continuous NIH funding. The grant?s overall objectives are to maintain the Arbovirus Reference Collection and to support other research and service activities of the World Reference Center for Arboviruses. These latter activities include: (1) virus identification and characterization; (2) investigation and diagnosis of disease outbreaks; (3) preparation and distribution of certified virus stocks and reagents; (4) development of new animal models of arboviral diseases and studies of arboviral pathogenesis; (5) training professional and technical personnel from any region of the world in arbovirus techniques and (6) dissemination of information on arbovirus taxonomy, diagnostic techniques and disease outbreaks. Because of the Reference Center?s extensive virus reference collection, unique diagnostic capabilities and contact with virologists and public health laboratories throughout the world, it plays an important role in the global surveillance network for emerging viral diseases.
