Publications

During Epiweek 47, 26 countries in the WHO African region (WHO AFR) contributed virological data for analysis - Algeria, Angola, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, 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 47, 1,616 specimens were collected, and 1,541 were tested for influenza.

In Epiweek 47, 187 specimens tested positive for influenza virus (positivity of 12.1%), of which 123 specimens were Influenza A, and 64 specimens were Influenza B. The following influenza viruses were identified: Influenza A (H1N1)pdm09 (n = 33), Influenza A (H3)
(n = 88), Influenza A (subtyping not performed) (n = 2), Influenza B (lineage not determined) (n = 25), and Influenza B (Victoria) (n = 39).

SARS-CoV-2

In Epiweek 47, of the 1,406 specimens processed by 21 laboratories in the African Region, a total of 89 specimens tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 (positivity of 6.3%).

Cumulatively from weeks 1 to 47, the WHO AFR influenza laboratory network has tested 77,888 sentinel surveillance specimens for SARS-CoV-2, of which 4,165 were positive for SARS-CoV-2 (cumulative positivity rate 5.3%).