By Martin Banks - 10th August 2011
I am very pleased that we have been able to allocate this additional funding
Máire Geoghegan-Quinn
The European commission says it plans to allocate an additional €12m from the EU's research framework programme to reinforce Europe's capacity for tackling pathogens like E.coli.
E.coli is the bacteria that recently infected close to 4000 people in Europe and killed 46, many of them in Germany.
This autumn, a cross-border consortium called "Antigone" (Anticipating the Global Onset of Novel Epidemics), will start work on research aimed at getting as full a scientific picture as possible of the new E.coli strain.
EU commissioner Máire Geoghegan-Quinn said the commission will dedicate approximately €2.1m to the project.
It will also cover a range of other virulent pathogens that she says could pose a threat to human health.
Geoghegan-Quinn, the commissioner for research, innovation and science, said, "By better understanding these pathogens, scientists can go on to develop ways to tackle them.
"The research will focus on ways to prevent future epidemics and deal with new outbreaks."
The consortium will work in close collaboration with another project selected for funding earlier, "Predemics".
Geoghegan-Quinn added, "Our policy is to focus EU research and innovation funding on the things that matter most to Europeans and of course health is right at the top of that list.
"So I am very pleased that we have been able to allocate this additional funding to reinforce further Europe's capacity to identify and respond to epidemic outbreaks."
The Antigone project is currently scheduled to involve 14 partners from seven countries.
The project will gather specific expertise on a broad range of viruses and bacteria and will seek to help identify, study, prevent and counteract unexpected new epidemic threats.
In particular, the project aims to identify the factors that make viral and bacterial pathogens from animals prone to cross the species barrier and be transmitted among people.
