Respiratory virus surveillance in the WHO African Region Epidemiological Week 45, November 3 to 9 2025

During Epiweek 45, 11 countries in the WHO African region (WHO AFR) contributed virological data for analysis - Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Madagascar, Mauritania, Mauritius, Nigeria, South Africa, Togo, Uganda, and United Republic of Tanzania. During week 45, 457 specimens were collected, and 364 were tested for influenza.

Epiweek 45, 49 specimens tested positive for influenza virus (positivity of 13.5%), of which 44 specimens were Influenza A, and 5 specimens were Influenza B, out of 364 specimens processed. The following influenza viruses were identified: Influenza A (H1N1)pdm09 (n = 9), Influenza A (H3) (n = 31), Influenza A (subtyping not performed) (n = 4), and Influenza B (Victoria) (n = 5).

SARS-CoV-2

In Epiweek 45, of the 374 specimens processed by 9 laboratories in the African Region, a total of 18 specimens tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 (positivity of 4.8%).

Cumulatively from weeks 1 to 45, the WHO AFR influenza laboratory network has tested 72,316 sentinel surveillance specimens for SARS-CoV-2, of which 2,642 were positive for SARS-CoV-2 (cumulative positivity rate 3.7%).