Respiratory virus surveillance in the WHO African Region Epidemiological Week 33, August 11 to 17 2025
During Epiweek 33, 18 countries in the WHO African region (WHO AFR) contributed virological data for analysis - Algeria, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Kenya, Mali, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mozambique, Nigeria, Senegal, Seychelles, South Africa, Togo, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. During week 33, 1,017 specimens were collected, 832 and were tested for influenza.
In Epiweek 33, 95 specimens tested positive for influenza virus (positivity of 11.4%), of which 79 specimens were Influenza A, and 16 specimens were Influenza B. The following influenza viruses were identified: Influenza A (H1N1)pdm09 (n = 49), Influenza A (H3)
(n = 11), Influenza A (subtyping not performed) (n = 19), and Influenza B (Victoria) (n = 16).
SARS-CoV-2
In Epiweek 33, of the 991 specimens processed by 15 laboratories in the African Region, a total of 16 specimens tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 (positivity of 1.6%).
Cumulatively from weeks 1 to 33, the WHO AFR influenza laboratory network has tested 51,518 sentinel surveillance specimens for SARS-CoV-2, of which 2,319 were positive for SARS-CoV-2 (cumulative positivity rate 4.5%).