Establishment of the EU Mobile Lab Project - December 2011

The EuropeAid Cooperation Office (DEVCO B5 - Instrument contributing to Stability and Peace) of the European Commission set up in 2011 the collaborative project Establishment of Mobile Laboratories up to Risk Group 4 in combination with CBRN Capacity Building in sub-Saharan Africa (EMLab project, 2012-2015) with a budget of EUR 3 million. The EMLab consortium includes several EU Biosafety level 4 laboratories and technical partners.

The overall objective of the EMLab project is to establish mobile laboratory units as well as a collaborative network involving European and African institutions able to operate these units in the field. The deployable diagnostic laboratory units are based on know how of the Bundeswehr Institute of Microbiology, Munich, Germany. The EMLab concept also takes into account the experience of Canadian and US-American mobile laboratories, which have been deployed several times in field missions and provided assistance in emergencies in the past.