The Pune-based National Institute of Virology (NIV) has shared the H5N1 genome sequence data with the Global Initiative on Sharing All Influenza Data (GISAID), a public database, on April 21, days after a report was printed in The Hindu about NIV not sharing sequence data earlier than paper publication.
The H5N1 sequence data deposited in GISAID was collected from a two-year-old lady from Narasaraopeta in Palnadu district, Andhra Pradesh. The lady was admitted to AIIMS-Mangalagiri on March 4, 2025 and ICMR’s Virus Research and Diagnostic Laboratory (VRDL) recognized the virus as influenza A on March 7. The pattern was despatched to NIV for Influenza A virus subtyping. NIV recognized the virus as N5N1, and the Andhra Pradesh authorities was knowledgeable concerning the consequence on March 31.
“Sharing the genome sequence data should happen as soon as they are available, if this information is to be of use,” says Dr. Gautam Menon, Professor of Physics and Biology at Ashoka University.
Published – April 27, 2025 10:05 pm IST
