Respiratory virus surveillance in the WHO African Region Epidemiological Week 21, May 18 to 24 2026
During Epiweek 21, 12 countries in the WHO African region (WHO AFR) contributed virological data for analysis - Algeria, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kenya, Mauritania, Mauritius, Niger, South Africa, Togo, Uganda, and Zambia. During week 21, 502 specimens were collected, and 475 were tested for influenza.
In Epiweek 21, 80 specimens tested positive for influenza virus (positivity of 16.8%), of which 62 specimens were Influenza A, and 18 specimens were Influenza B. The following influenza viruses were identified: Influenza A (H1N1)pdm09 (n = 3), Influenza A (H3) (n
= 47), Influenza A (subtyping not performed) (n = 12), Influenza B (lineage not determined) (n = 6), and Influenza B (Victoria) (n = 12).
SARS-CoV-2
In Epiweek 21, of the 463 specimens processed by 9 laboratories in the African Region, a total of 1 specimens tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 (positivity of 0.2%).
Cumulatively from weeks 1 to 21, the WHO AFR influenza laboratory network has tested 27,677 sentinel surveillance specimens for SARS-CoV-2, of which 821 were positive for SARS-CoV-2 (cumulative positivity rate 3%).