Publications

During Epiweek 48, 21 countries in the WHO African region (WHO AFR) contributed virological data for analysis - Algeria, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ghana, Kenya, Madagascar, Mali, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mozambique, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, South Africa, South Sudan, Uganda, United Republic of Tanzania, and Zambia. During week 48, 1,048 specimens were collected and 945 were tested for influenza.

In Epiweek 48, 83 specimens tested positive for influenza virus (positivity of 8.8%), of which 59 specimens were Influenza A, and 24 specimens were Influenza B. The following influenza viruses were identified: Influenza A (H1N1)pdm09 (n = 22), Influenza A (H3) (n = 33), Influenza A (subtyping not performed) (n = 4), Influenza B (lineage not determined) (n = 5), and Influenza B (Victoria) (n = 19).

SARS CoV-2

In Epiweek 48, of the 963 specimens processed by 16 laboratories in the African Region, a total of 76 specimens tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 (positivity of 7.9%).

Cumulatively from weeks 1 to 48, the WHO AFR influenza laboratory network has tested 78,851 sentinel surveillance specimens for SARS-CoV-2, of which 4,241 were positive for SARS-CoV-2 (cumulative positivity rate 5.4%).