During Epiweek 22, 13 countries in the WHO African region (WHO AFR) contributed virological data for analysis - Algeria, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Liberia, Mauritius, Mozambique, Niger, South Africa, Uganda, United Republic of Tanzania, and Zambia. During week 22, 933 specimens were collected, and 882 were tested for influenza.
In Epiweek 22, 186 specimens tested positive for influenza virus (positivity of 21.1%), of which 76 specimens were Influenza A, and 110 specimens were Influenza B. The following influenza viruses were identified: Influenza A (H1N1)pdm09 (n = 26), Influenza A (H3) (n = 31), Influenza A (subtyping not performed) (n = 19), Influenza B (lineage not determined) (n = 81), and Influenza B (Victoria) (n = 29).
SARS-CoV-2
In Epiweek 22, of the 876 specimens processed by 11 laboratories in the African Region, a total of 15 specimens tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 (positivity of 1.7%).
Cumulatively from weeks 1 to 22, the WHO AFR influenza laboratory network has tested 29,831 sentinelsurveillance specimens for SARS-CoV-2, of which 857 were positive for SARS-CoV-2 (cumulative positivity rate 2.9%).
