Respiratory Virus Surveillance in the WHO African Region Epidemiological Week 03, January 15 to 21, 2024
During Epidemiological week (Epiweek) 3, 20 countries from the 5 influenza transmission zones1 in the WHO African region (WHO AFR) contributed virological data for analysis - Algeria, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Côte d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Madagascar, Mali, Mozambique, Niger, Rwanda, Senegal, South Africa, Togo, Uganda, United Republic of Tanzania, and Zambia. During Epiweek 3, 1748 specimens were collected, and 1735 were tested for influenza.
In Epiweek 3, 184 specimens tested positive for influenza virus (positivity of 10.6%), of which 156 specimens were Influenza A, and 28 specimens were Influenza B. The following influenza viruses were identified: Influenza A (H1N1)pdm09 (n = 63), Influenza A (H3) (n = 91), Influenza A (subtyping not performed) (n=2), Influenza B (lineage not determined) (n = 5), and Influenza B (Victoria) (n = 23).
In Epiweek 3 of 2024, a total of 95 specimens tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 (positivity of 6%), of the 1,589 specimens processed by 18 laboratories regionally.
Cumulatively, from weeks 1 to 3, the WHO AFR influenza laboratory network has tested 4,126 sentinel surveillance specimens for SARS-CoV-2, of which 232 were positive for SARS-CoV-2 (cumulative regional positivity rate 5.6%).