Respiratory virus surveillance in the WHO African Region Epidemiological Week 19, May 5 to 11 2025
During Epiweek 19, 12 countries in the WHO African region (WHO AFR) contributed virological data for analysis - Algeria, Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ghana, Madagascar, Mauritius, Mozambique, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa, and Zambia. During week 19, 908 specimens were collected, and 827 were tested for influenza.
In Epiweek 19, 123 specimens tested positive for influenza virus (positivity of 14.9%), of which 104 specimens were Influenza A, and 19 specimens were Influenza B. The following influenza viruses were identified: Influenza A (H1N1)pdm09 (n = 35), Influenza A (H3)
(n = 36), Influenza A (subtyping not performed) (n = 33), and Influenza B (Victoria) (n = 19).
SARS CoV-2
In Epiweek 19, of the 841 specimens processed by 11 laboratories in the African Region, a total of 24 specimens tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 (positivity of 2.9%).
Cumulatively from weeks 1 to 19, the WHO AFR influenza laboratory network has tested 27,943 sentinel surveillance specimens for SARS-CoV-2, of which 1,312 were positive for SARS-CoV-2 (cumulative positivity rate4.7%).