Respiratory Virus Surveillance in the WHO African Region: Week 27, July 03 to 09, 2023
During epidemiological week 27, 21 countries in the WHO African region (WHO AFR) contributed virological data for analysis - Angola, Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Gabon, Ghana, Madagascar, Mali, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mozambique, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Seychelles, South Africa, Togo, Uganda, United Republic of Tanzania, and Zambia (Figure 1). During week 27, 1,796 specimens were collected, and 1,782 were tested for influenza.
In Epiweek 27, 134 specimens tested positive for influenza virus (positivity of 7.52%), of which 96 specimens were Influenza A, and 38 specimens were Influenza B, out of 1782 specimens processed. The following Influenza viruses were identified: Influenza A (H1N1)pdm09 (n = 51), Influenza A (H3) (n = 23), Influenza A (subtyping not performed) (n = 22), Influenza B (lineage not determined) (n = 27), and Influenza B (Victoria) (n = 11) (Figure 2).
Cumulatively from weeks 1 to 27, the WHO AFR influenza laboratory network has collected 59,610 specimens and tested 59,514, of which 4,591 were positive for influenza virus (positivity rate 7.71%).