Publications

During Epiweek 50, 23 countries in the WHO African region (WHO AFR) contributed virological data for analysis - Algeria, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Gabon, Ghana, Kenya, Madagascar, Mali, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mozambique, Nigeria, Senegal, Seychelles, South Africa, South Sudan, Togo, Uganda, United Republic of Tanzania, and Zambia. During week 50, 1,331 specimens were collected, and 1,289 were tested for influenza.

In Epiweek 50, 126 specimens tested positive for influenza virus (positivity of 9.8%), of which 81 specimens were Influenza A, and 45 specimens were Influenza B. The following influenza viruses were identified: Influenza A (H1N1)pdm09 (n = 52), Influenza A (H3) (n = 26), Influenza A (subtyping not performed) (n = 3), Influenza B (lineage not determined) (n = 6), and Influenza B (Victoria) (n = 39).

SARS CoV-2

In Epiweek 50, of the 1,214 specimens processed by 18 laboratories in the African Region, a total of 117 specimens tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 (positivity of 9.6%).

Cumulatively from weeks 1 to 50, the WHO AFR influenza laboratory network has tested 81,525 sentinel surveillance specimens for SARS-CoV-2, of which 4,470 were positive for SARS-CoV-2 (cumulative positivity rate 5.5%).