Respiratory virus surveillance in the WHO African Region Epidemiological Week 7, February 10 - 16 2025
During Epiweek 7, 13 countries in the WHO African region (WHO AFR) contributed virological data for analysis - Algeria, Central African Republic, Ethiopia, Gabon, Ghana, Madagascar, Mali, Mauritius, Mozambique, Senegal, Seychelles, South Africa, and Togo. During week 7, 789 specimens were collected, and 756 were tested for influenza.
In Epiweek 7, 120 specimens tested positive for influenza virus (positivity of 15.9%), of which 90 specimens were Influenza A, and 30 specimens were Influenza B. The following influenza viruses were identified: Influenza A (H1N1)pdm09 (n = 10), Influenza A (H3)
(n = 75), Influenza A (subtyping not performed) (n = 5), Influenza B (lineage not determined) (n = 6), and Influenza B (Victoria) (n = 24).
SARS-CoV-2
In Epiweek 7, of the 781 specimens processed by 11 laboratories in the African Region, a total of 26 specimens tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 (positivity of 3.3%).
Cumulatively from weeks 1 to 7, the WHO AFR influenza laboratory network has tested 7,900 sentinel surveillance specimens for SARS-CoV-2, of which 714 were positive for SARS-CoV-2 (cumulative positivity rate 9%).