Respiratory Virus Surveillance in the WHO African Region Epidemiological Week 13, March 25 to 31, 2024
During Epidemiological week (Epiweek) 13, a total of 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, Kenya, Madagascar, Mali, Mauritania, Mozambique, Niger, Nigeria, Seychelles, South Africa, South Sudan, Togo, Uganda, United Republic of Tanzania, and Zambia. During week 13, 1 370 specimens were collected, and 1 367 were tested for influenza.
In Epiweek 13, a total of 53 specimens tested positive for influenza virus (positivity of 3.9%), of which 45 specimens were Influenza A, and 8 specimens were Influenza B. The following influenza viruses were identified: Influenza A (H1N1)pdm09 (n = 16), Influenza A (H3) (n = 25), Influenza A (subtyping not performed) (n = 4), Influenza B (lineage not determined) (n = 1), and Influenza B (Victoria) (n = 7).
SARS CoV-2
In Epiweek 13, a total of 58 specimens tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 (positivity of 4.5%) of the 1 291 specimens processed by 20 laboratories regionally.
Cumulatively from weeks 1 to 13, the WHO AFR influenza laboratory network has tested 21,400 sentinel surveillance specimens for SARS-CoV-2, of which 1,639 were positive for SARS-CoV-2 (cumulative positivity rate 7.7%).