Respiratory virus surveillance in the WHO African Region Epidemiological Week 2, January 6 - 12 2025
During Epiweek 2, 19 countries in the WHO African region (WHO AFR) contributed virological data for analysis - Algeria, Angola, Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Gabon, Ghana, Kenya, Madagascar, Mali, Mauritius, Mozambique, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Seychelles, South Africa, Togo, United Republic of Tanzania, and Zimbabwe. During week 2, 1,099 specimens were collected, and 1,080 were tested for influenza.
In Epiweek 2, 137 specimens tested positive for influenza virus (positivity of 12.7%), of which 81 specimens were Influenza A, and 56 specimens were Influenza B. The following influenza viruses were identified: Influenza A (H1N1)pdm09 (n = 37), Influenza A (H3) (n = 43), Influenza A (subtyping not performed) (n = 1), Influenza B (lineage not determined) (n = 11), and Influenza B (Victoria) (n = 45).
SARS-CoV-2
In Epiweek 2, of the 1,075 specimens processed by 18 laboratories in the African Region, a total of 170 specimens tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 (positivity of 15.8%).
Cumulatively from weeks 1 to 2, the WHO AFR influenza laboratory network has tested 1,655 sentinel surveillance specimens for SARS-CoV-2, of which 273 were positive for SARS-CoV-2 (cumulative positivity rate 16.5%).