Public health

Pathology

Virus

Influenza A virus

Disease

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)

Pandemic influenza

Infectious disease (medical specialty)

Biology

Pandemic

Risk assessment

Risk analysis (engineering)

Nursing

Political science

Virology

Preparedness

Influenza pandemic

Computer science

Computational biology

Human influenza

Computer security

Medicine

eLife

Assessing the pandemic risk posed by specific non-human influenza A viruses is an important goal in public health research. As influenza virus genome sequencing becomes cheaper, faster, and more readily available, the ability to predict pandemic potential from sequence data could transform pandemic influenza risk assessment capabilities. However, the complexities of the relationships between virus genotype and phenotype make such predictions extremely difficult. The integration of experimental work, computational tool development, and analysis of evolutionary pathways, together with refinements to influenza surveillance, has the potential to transform our ability to assess the risks posed to humans by non-human influenza viruses and lead to improved pandemic preparedness and response.

Improving pandemic influenza risk assessment