Respiratory virus surveillance in the WHO African Region Epidemiological Week 23, June 2 to 8 2025
During Epiweek 23, 12 countries in the WHO African region (WHO AFR) contributed virological data for analysis - Algeria, Burkina Faso, Lesotho, Madagascar, Mali, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mozambique, Niger, Nigeria, Togo, and Zambia. During week 23, 594 specimens were collected, and 505 were tested for influenza.
In Epiweek 23, 70 specimens tested positive for influenza virus (positivity of 13.9%), of which 56 specimens were Influenza A, and 14 specimens were Influenza B. The following influenza viruses were identified: Influenza A(H1N1)pdm09 (n = 7), Influenza A (H3) (n = 43), Influenza A (subtyping not performed) (n = 6), and Influenza B Victoria) (n = 14).
SARS-CoV-2
In Epiweek 23, of the 482 specimens processed by 11 laboratories in the African Region, a total of 28 specimens tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 (positivity of 5.8%).
Cumulatively from weeks 1 to 23, the WHO AFR influenza laboratory network has tested 33,207 sentinel surveillance specimens for SARS-CoV-2, of which 1,558 were positive for SARS-CoV-2 (cumulative positivity rate 4.7%).