Respiratory virus surveillance in the WHO African Region Epidemiological Week 44, October 27 to November 2 2025

During Epiweek 44, 19 countries 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 the Congo, Ethiopia, Ghana, Madagascar, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mozambique, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa, Togo, Uganda, United Republic of Tanzania, and Zambia. During week 44, 1,725 specimens were collected, and 1,447 were tested for influenza.

In Epiweek 44, 284 specimens tested positive for influenza virus (positivity of 19.6%), of which 270 specimens were Influenza A, and 14 specimens were Influenza B. The following influenza viruses were identified: Influenza A (H1N1)pdm09 (n = 33), Influenza A (H3) (n = 195), Influenza A (subtyping not performed) (n = 42), and Influenza B (Victoria) (n = 14).

SARS-CoV-2
In Epiweek 44, of the 1,426 specimens processed by 17 laboratories in the African Region, a total of 24 specimens tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 (positivity of 1.7%).

Cumulatively from weeks 1 to 44, the WHO AFR influenza laboratory network has tested 71,669 sentinel surveillance specimens for SARS-CoV-2, of which 2,621 were positive for SARS-CoV-2 (cumulative positivity rate 3.7%).