Respiratory Virus Surveillance in the WHO African Region: Week 14, April 1 to 7, 2024
During Epidemiological week (Epiweek) 14, 20 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, Ghana, Madagascar, Mali, Mozambique, Niger, Nigeria, Seychelles, South Africa, South Sudan, Togo, Uganda, United Republic of Tanzania, and Zambia. During week 14, 1,298 specimens were collected, and 1,292 were tested for influenza.
In Epiweek 14, 52 specimens tested positive for influenza virus (positivity of 4%), of which 37 specimens were Influenza A, and 15 specimens were Influenza B. The following influenza viruses were identified: Influenza A (H1N1)pdm09 (n = 11), Influenza A (H3) (n = 26), Influenza B (lineage not determined) (n = 4), and Influenza B (Victoria) (n = 11).
SARS CoV-2
In Epiweek 14, 1,246 specimens were tested by 17 laboratories in the African Region for SARS CoV-2 with 69 specimens testing positive for SARS-CoV-2 (positivity of 5.5%).
Cumulatively, from weeks 1 to 14, the WHO AFR influenza laboratory network has tested 22,648 sentinel surveillance specimens for SARS-CoV-2, of which 1,708 were positive for SARS-CoV-2 (cumulative positivity rate 7.5%).