Once again experts in viral zoonoses gathered under the warm Mediterranean sun in St Raphaël (France) at the third European Meeting on Viral Zoonoses in May 2005. The Meeting was attended by more than 100 scientists from 22 countries who throughly enjoyed the very special atmosphere of the forum. Following the now traditional schedule, scientific sessions covered the ecology, epidemiology, virology and prevention of zoonotic viral diseases. The keynote talks given by C.J. Peters (Galveston, U.S.A.), Sarah Randolph (Oxford, UK), Esteban Domingo (Madrid, Spain), Yoshihiro Kawaoka (Madison, U.S.A. and Tokyo, Japan), Otto Haller (Freiburg, Germany), and Gary Nabel (Bethesda, U.S.A.) provided excellend overviews and introductions for the submitted oral presentations and poster sessions that followed. An interesting social program for both participants and accompanying persons, thanks to efforts of the local organisers and particularly the Chair of the Organising Committee, No?l Tordo, contriubuted tremendously to the Meeting's success. The organisers are indebted to the continuing financial support for the Meetings from Chiron Vaccines, Fort Dodge Animal Health and Sanofi Pasteur, as well as the St Rapha?l municipality. The next Meeting will be held at St. Andrews, Scotland, UK, June 2-5, 2007.