Development of an influenza virus sequencing pipeline (360G-Wellcome-081346_B_06_Z)

Influenza viruses are a continual threat to both humans and animals. The current threat of an influenza pandemic from the H5N1 virus highlights the need for the application of new techniques to ensure that surveillance and research into influenza viruses use 'state-of-the-art' methodologies for the analysis of the sequence of the virus genome. The establishment of an influenza virus sequencing pipeline, through which to sequence large numbers of viral genomes, is proposed and encompasses scientists from five organisations. High-through-put sequencing is not available at the existing UKvirological sites where influenza viruses are handled but is available at the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute. A work programme taking advantage of the complementary expertise available in different sites would provide access to an efficient influenza virus sequencing platform for the UK. The proposed pipeline will be set up encompassing isolates from seasonal influenza samples received during surveillance programmes, H5N1 samples from both humans and animals, isolates from reference banks of human and animal influenza, and in addition samples from on-going experiments to understand in detail within-hostselection of virus variants in extant model animal studies.