Respiratory Virus Surveillance in the WHO African Region Epidemiological Week 10, March 4 to 10, 2024
During Epidemiological week (Epiweek) 10, 23 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 Congo, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Madagascar, Mali, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mozambique, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, South Africa, South Sudan, Togo, Uganda, United Republic of Tanzania, and Zambia. During week 10, 1,663 specimens were collected, and 1,656 were tested for influenza.
In Epiweek 10, 86 specimens tested positive for influenza virus (positivity of 5.2%), of which 64 specimens were Influenza A, and 22 specimens were Influenza B. The following influenza virus subtypes were identified: Influenza A (H1N1)pdm09 (n = 16), Influenza A (H3) (n = 48), Influenza B (lineage not determined) (n = 3), and Influenza B (Victoria) (n = 19). Influenza A(H3) continues to dominate in East Africa.
In Epiweek 10, 55 specimens tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 (positivity of 3.5%), of the 1,576 specimens processed by 22 laboratories regionally.
Cumulatively, from weeks 1 to 10, the WHO AFR influenza laboratory network has tested 16,846 sentinel surveillance specimens for SARS-CoV-2, of which 1,456 were positive for SARS-CoV-2 (cumulative regional positivity rate 8.6%).