Nipah Virus Classification via Fractal Dimension & Shannon Entropy

Nipah virus glycoprotein and nucleoprotein sequences were studied using fractal dimension and Shannon entropy. The nucleotide atomic number fluctuation forms the basis of the phylogeny study. The classification reproduces the main results of traditional phylogeny analysis, but with better ability to distinguish closely related strains. The fractal dimension correlation with the GC pair content in the glycoprotein sequence and di-nucleotide entropy in the nucleoprotein suggests different evolutionary mechanisms or strategies. Extension to other flu virus suggests that low fractal dimensionality in the nucleoprotein sequence could be a marker for the Nipah and Spanish-flu-like viruses.