Respiratory virus surveillance in the WHO African Region Epidemiological Week 17, April 21 to 27 2025

During Epiweek 17, 18 countries in the WHO African region (WHO AFR) contributed virological data foranalysis - Algeria, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Lesotho, Madagascar,Mali, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mozambique, Niger, Nigeria, South Africa, South Sudan, Togo, and Zambia. During week 17, 1,210 specimens were collected, and 1,040 were tested for influenza.

In Epiweek 17, 104 specimens tested positive for influenza virus (positivity of 10%), of which 90 specimens were Influenza A, and 14 specimens were Influenza B. The following influenza viruses were identified: Influenza A (H1N1)pdm09 (n = 38), Influenza A (H3) (n = 46), Influenza A (subtyping not performed) (n = 6), Influenza B (lineage not determined) (n = 6), and Influenza B (Victoria) (n = 8).

SARS-CoV-2

In Epiweek 17, of the 901 specimens processed by 15 laboratories in the African Region, total of 23 specimens tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 (positivity of 2.6%).

Cumulatively from weeks 1 to 17, the WHO AFR influenza laboratory network has tested 25,156 sentinel surveillance specimens for SARS-CoV-2, of which 1,201 were positive for SARS-CoV-2 (cumulative positivity rate 4.8%).