Respiratory virus surveillance in the WHO African Region Epidemiological Week 38, September 16 - 22 2024
During Epidemiological Week (Epiweek) 38, 28 countries in the WHO African region (WHO AFR) contributed virological data for analysis - Algeria, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Côte d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Gabon, Ghana, Kenya, Liberia, Madagascar, Mali, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, South Africa, South Sudan, Togo, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. During week 38, 1,608 specimens were collected, and 1, 566 were tested for influenza.
In Epiweek 38, 149 specimens tested positive for influenza virus (positivity of 9.5%), of which 98 specimens were Influenza A, and 51 specimens were Influenza B. The following influenza viruses were identified: Influenza A (H1N1)pdm09 (n = 20), Influenza A (H3) (n = 73), Influenza A (subtyping not performed) (n = 5), Influenza B (lineage not determined) (n = 7), and Influenza B (Victoria) (n = 44).
SARS CoV-2
In Epiweek 38, of the 1,433 specimens processed by 22 laboratories in the African Region, a total of 58 specimens tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 (positivity of 4%).
Cumulatively from weeks 1 to 38, the WHO AFR influenza laboratory network has tested 63,868 sentinel surveillance specimens for SARS-CoV-2, of which 3,454 were positive for SARS-CoV-2 (cumulative positivity rate 5.4%).