Publications

During Epiweek 45, 27 countries in the WHO African region (WHO AFR) contributed virological data for analysis - Algeria, Angola, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Chad, Côte d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Madagascar, Mali, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mozambique, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, South Africa, South Sudan, Togo, Uganda, United Republic of Tanzania, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. During week 45, 1, 559 specimens were collected, and 1,530 were tested for influenza.

In Epiweek 45, 177 specimens tested positive for influenza virus (positivity of 11.6%), of which 97 specimens were Influenza A, and 80 specimens were Influenza B. The following influenza viruses were identified: Influenza A (H1N1)pdm09 (n = 29), Influenza A (H3) (n = 67), Influenza A (subtyping not performed) (n = 1), Influenza B (lineage not determined) (n = 16), and Influenza B (Victoria) (n = 64).

SARS-CoV-2

In Epiweek 45, of the 1,394 specimens processed by 21 laboratories in the African Region, a total of 50 specimens tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 (positivity of 3.6%).

Cumulatively from weeks 1 to 45, the WHO AFR influenza laboratory network has tested 75,057 sentinel surveillance specimens for SARS-CoV-2, of which 4,005 were positive for SARS-CoV-2 (cumulative positivity rate 5.3%).