Respiratory virus surveillance in the WHO African Region Epidemiological Week 15, April 6 to 12 2026
During Epiweek 15, 12 countries in the WHO African region (WHO AFR) contributed virological data for analysis - Algeria, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kenya, Mali, Mauritius, Mozambique, Niger, Senegal, South Africa, and Togo. During week 15, 660 specimens were collected, and 527 were tested for influenza.
In Epiweek 15, 45 specimens tested positive for influenza virus (positivity of 8.5%), of which 26 specimens were Influenza A, and 19 specimens were Influenza B. The following influenza viruses were identified: Influenza A (H1N1)pdm09 (n = 8), Influenza A (H3) (n = 6), Influenza A (subtyping not performed) (n = 12), Influenza B (lineage not determined) (n = 2), and Influenza B (Victoria) (n = 17).
SARS-CoV-2
In Epiweek 15, of the 499 specimens processed by 11 laboratories in the African Region, a total of 9 specimens tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 (positivity of 1.8%).
Cumulatively from weeks 1 to 15, the WHO AFR influenza laboratory network has tested 19,216 sentinel surveillance specimens for SARS-CoV-2, of which 682 were positive for SARS-CoV-2 (cumulative positivity rate 3.5%).