ESCMID 2026 - Congress of the European Society of
 Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases

An ANRS MIE session, co-organised with the German Center for Infection Research (DZIF), will be held on the theme “Shaping the future of West Nile virus research in Europe.”

This session will focus on defining the future research priorities for West Nile Virus (WNV) in Europe, emphasising the need for stronger European scientific collaboration. By convening experts from virology, entomology, ecology and climate research, clinical research, and public health, the session will explore how coordinated and complementary research efforts can accelerate our understanding of WNV dynamics and improve epidemic preparedness specifically in the European context.

A particular focus will be placed on France and Germany, where recent increases in WNV circulation highlight shared scientific challenges – from improving genomic surveillance and vector studies to refining clinical characterisation, modeling transmission, and evaluating innovative diagnostic and preventive tools. These two countries offer a unique opportunity to develop aligned research strategies and comparative studies that can benefit the wider European landscape of vector-borne diseases.

The overall objective is to outline a joint research agenda capable of supporting earlier detection, advancing mechanistic knowledge, and informing more effective interventions.

Programme

CHAIRS : Marylyn ADDO, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf (UKE), German Center for Infection Research (DZIF), Germany ; Eric D’ORTENZIO, ANRS Emerging infectious diseases, France ; Anna PAPA-KONIDARI, Aristotle university school of medicine, Greece

• Introduction
• Arboviruses in Europe: framing West Nile virus within an evolving epidemiological and preparedness landscape. Marion KOOPMANS, Erasmus MC, Netherlands
• Paris under threat: a One Health investigation of the 2025 West Nile virus emergence. Laura PEZZI, National Reference Centre (NRC) for Arboviruses, France
• Emergence and establishment of WNV in Germany. Christian DROSTEN, Institute of Virology, Charite Universitätsmedizin, Germany
• Clinical aspects and management of neuroinvasive West Nile virus infection. Luisa BARZON, EU Reference Laboratory for Public Health on Vector-borne Viruses, Italy
• Questions/answers with participants

The ESCMID congress

Leading experts in infectious diseases and clinical microbiology are gathering at ESCMID Global to exchange ideas and explore the latest innovations. It is also an opportunity to learn more about the research work funded by ANRS MIE.

Oral presentations of research supported by ANRS MIE

• Emergence and persistence of RSV-B resistant variants under monoclonal antibody pressure: Evidence in a 3D human airway model par Amandine Caillault, Arnaud Ly, Pierre Cappy, Alexandre Soulier, Jean-Michel Pawlotsky, Laurent Softic, Slim Fourati
• Real-world emergence of nirsevimab resistance in RSV-B breakthrough infections par Slim Fourati, et al. On behlaf of POLYRES investigator

All research projects supported by ANRS MIE

• Of note, the presentation at this conference of results from the PREVAC-UP project, which was developed by the PREVAC consortium. This study benefited from the expertise of the Pharmacovigilance Department at ANRS MIE.

5-Year Immunogenicity of 3 Ebola Vaccine Strategies in West Africa par Abdoul Beavogui, et al. And the PREVAC study team.

• During the ‘Meet the Expert’ session on 19 April, Dr Vittoria Colizza (Inserm, Paris) will join Dr Bill Hanage (Harvard, Boston, USA) to present research partly funded by ANRS MIE:

Pathogens and people: modelling epidemics for preparedness

This presentation will focus on non-traditional data in modelling for pandemic preparedness and response.