IniFlu

IniFlu identifies novel molecular signatures and assesses pandemic risk of influenza viruses by integrating viral sequence data with clinical and epidemiological information.

Key Features:

• Data processing and integration: Processes and rearranges sequence data according to standard viral nomenclature and integrates viral sequences, clinical information, and epidemiological data.
• Identification of molecular signatures: Determines group-related consensus sequences and identifies group-specific polygenic signatures.
• Risk assessment via amino acid analysis: Analyzes multibasic amino acids at the HA cleavage site and evidence-based viral amino acid substitutions associated with virulence and human infection potential, including monitoring of highly pathogenic avian influenza H5N2.

Scientific Applications:

• Surveillance and risk assessment: Supports surveillance and assessment of influenza virus subtypes with pandemic potential by identifying molecular signatures of virological, epidemiological, and clinical significance.
• Viral evolution and transmission studies: Supports research into viral evolution, transmission dynamics, and pathogenicity through consensus and polygenic-signature analyses.
• Retrospective analyses: Enables processing and analysis of historical H5N2 data (2009–2016) for retrospective studies and ongoing monitoring.

Methodology:

Processes and rearranges sequence data according to standard viral nomenclature; integrates sequence, clinical, and epidemiological data; computes group-related consensus sequences and group-specific polygenic signatures; analyzes HA cleavage-site multibasic residues and other evidence-based amino acid substitutions to generate comprehensive risk profiles using bioinformatics techniques.