Respiratory virus surveillance in the WHO African Region Epidemiological Week 34, August 18 to 24 2025
During Epiweek 34, 20 countries in the WHO African region (WHO AFR) contributed virological data for analysis - Algeria, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Gabon, Ghana, Kenya, Madagascar, Mali, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mozambique, Nigeria, Senegal, Seychelles, South Africa, Togo, United Republic of Tanzania, and Zambia. During week 34, 1,190 specimens were collected, and 1,015 were tested for influenza.
In Epiweek 34, 100 specimens tested positive for influenza virus (positivity of 9.9%), of which 83 specimens were Influenza A, and 17 specimens were Influenza B. The following influenza viruses were identified: Influenza A (H1N1)pdm09 (n = 47), Influenza A (H3)
(n = 16), Influenza A (subtyping not performed) (n = 20), Influenza B (lineage not determined) (n = 2), and Influenza B (Victoria) (n = 15).
In Epiweek 34, the 1,126 specimens processed by 17 laboratories in the African Region, a total of 23 specimens tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 (positivity of 2%).
SARS-CoV-2
Cumulatively from weeks 1 to 34, the WHO AFR influenza laboratory network has tested 53,067 sentinel surveillance specimens for SARS-CoV-2, of which 2,352 were positive for SARS-CoV-2 (cumulative positivity rate 4.4%).