Respiratory virus surveillance in the WHO African Region Epidemiological Week 18, April 27 to May 3 2026
During Epiweek 18, 12 countries in the WHO African region (WHO AFR) contributed virological data for analysis - Algeria, Côte d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Mauritania, Senegal, South Africa, Togo, Uganda, and United Republic of Tanzania. During week 18, 659 specimens were collected, and 612 were tested for influenza.
In Epiweek 18, 80 specimens tested positive for influenza virus (positivity of 13.1%), of which 64 specimens were Influenza A, and 16 specimens were Influenza B, out of 612 specimens processed. The following influenza viruses were identified: Influenza A (H1N1)pdm09 (n = 6), Influenza A (H3) (n = 23), Influenza A (subtyping not performed) (n = 35), Influenza B (lineage not determined) (n = 3), and Influenza B (Victoria) (n = 13).
SARS-CoV-2
In Epiweek 18, of the 587 specimens processed by 10 laboratories in the African Region, a total of 17 specimens tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 (positivity of 2.9%).
Cumulatively from weeks 1 to 18, the WHO AFR influenza laboratory network has tested 24,017 sentinel surveillance specimens for SARS-CoV-2, of which 761 were positive for SARS-CoV-2 (cumulative positivity rate 3.2%).