Overview: influenza virus whole-genome sequencing
Characterising influenza type A and B virus genomes through whole-genome nanopore sequencing
Influenza is a global health concern, due to annual epidemics of the disease and its potential to cause a pandemic due to novel strain variants. Whole-genome sequencing enables ongoing surveillance and identification of new emergent strains, and can therefore provide information to inform the development of seasonal vaccines.
There are two main strains of influenza virus, A and B, that are responsible for seasonal epidemics. This overview describes how to generate accurate whole-genome sequences of influenza A and B viruses by PCR amplification and multiplexed nanopore sequencing. This protocol can be used to sequence up to 96 samples in a single sequencing run and provides rapid access to results.