Human life has been at the edge of catastrophe for millennia due diseases which emerge and reemerge at random. The recent outbreak of the Zika virus (ZIKV) is one such menace that shook the global public health community abruptly. Modern technologies, including computational tools as well as experimental approaches, need to be harnessed fast and effectively in a coordinated manner in order to properly address such challenges. In this paper, based on our earlier research, we have proposed a four-pronged approach to tackle the emerging pathogens like ZIKV: (a) Epidemiological modelling of spread mechanisms of ZIKV; (b) assessment of the public health risk of newly emerging strains of the pathogens by comparing them with existing strains/pathogens using fast computational sequence comparison methods; (c) implementation of vaccine design methods in order to produce a set of probable peptide vaccine candidates for quick synthesis/production and testing in the laboratory; and (d) designing of novel therapeutic molecules and their laboratory testing as well as validation of new drugs or repurposing of drugs for use against ZIKV. For each of these stages, we provide an extensive review of the technical challenges and current state-of-the-art. Further, we outline the future areas of research and discuss how they can work together to proactively combat ZIKV or future emerging pathogens.

The Nipah virus disease is a lethal infection that has led to 40% to 75% fatalities in Malaysia, Bangladesh and India. The reports of human-to-human transmission documented in Bangladesh has raised the specter of pandemic potential and has caused the World Health Organization to list the Nipah virus as one of the pathogens to be considered for development of drugs and vaccines on urgent basis, neither of which exist against the Nipah virus as of now, although many proposals have been made and trials initiated. Given that there are established country-specific differences in the virus’ effects and fatalities, meeting the sudden need for a vaccine in case of an epidemic will require design, development and preparation for a peptide vaccine. Thus, we propose a protocol for creating peptide vaccines that can be tailor-made for these specific countries, an approach which is being advocated for the first time. Here, we analyze the surface proteins, Fusion protein and Glycoprotein, of the strains currently affecting the three countries on a large scale and determine the specific country-based epitope differences.

A century has passed since the first global pandemic was brought about by the influenza A (H1N1) virus in 1918. Using the graphical representation and numerical characterization method, a survey of all the H1N1 neuraminidase (NA) gene sequences over the period between 1918 and 2018 shows that certain regions have remained well conserved while others continue to exhibit high variability. Regions of low variability in the NA protein and associated high solvent accessibility identified by our analysis provides an indication of vaccine targeting for longer lifetime applicability. In light of the resistance developed by influenza to antivirals and vaccines, consideration of this analytical study will aid in improving the efficacy of viral treatment.