Respiratory Virus Surveillance in the WHO African Region Epidemiological Week 15, April 8 to 14, 2024
During Epidemiological week (Epiweek) 15, 22 countries 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 the Congo, Ethiopia, Ghana, Madagascar, Mali, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mozambique, Niger, Nigeria, Seychelles, South Africa, South Sudan, Togo, Uganda, United Republic of Tanzania, and Zambia. During week 15, 1,271 specimens were collected, 1,266 and were tested for influenza.
In Epiweek 15, 68 specimens tested positive for influenza virus (positivity of 5.4%), of which 53 specimens were Influenza A, and 15 specimens were Influenza B. The following influenza viruses were identified: Influenza A (H1N1)pdm09 (n = 17), Influenza A (H3) (n = 36), Influenza B (lineage not determined) (n = 1), and Influenza B (Victoria) (n = 14).
SARS CoV-2
In Epiweek 15, of the 1,201 specimens processed by 18 laboratories in the African Region, a total of 69 specimens tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 (positivity of 5.7%).
Cumulatively from weeks 1 to 15, the WHO AFR influenza laboratory network has tested 24,457 sentinel surveillance specimens for SARS-CoV-2, of which 1,821 were positive for SARS-CoV-2 (cumulative positivity rate 7.4%).