During Epidemiological week (Epiweek) 4, 20 countries from the 5 influenza transmission zones1 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 Congo, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Madagascar, Mali, Mozambique, Niger, Rwanda, Senegal, South Africa, Togo, Uganda, United Republic of Tanzania, and Zambia. During Epiweek 4, 1,296 specimens were collected, and 1,268 were tested for influenza.

In Epiweek 4, 103 specimens tested positive for influenza virus (positivity of 8.1%), of which 94 specimens were Influenza A, and 9 specimens were Influenza B. The following influenza viruses were identified: Influenza A (H1N1)pdm09 (n = 40), Influenza A (H3) (n = 53), Influenza A (subtyping not performed) (n=1), Influenza B (lineage not determined) (n = 4), and Influenza B (Victoria) (n = 5).

In Epiweek 4, 72 specimens tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 (positivity of 6.4%), of the 1,126 specimens processed by 15 laboratories regionally.

Cumulatively, from weeks 1 to 4, the WHO AFR influenza laboratory network has tested 5,281 sentinel surveillance specimens for SARS-CoV-2, of which 305 were positive for SARS-CoV-2 (cumulative regional positivity rate 5.8%).