Respiratory virus surveillance in the WHO African Region Epidemiological Week 46, November 10 to 16, 2025
During Epiweek 46, 16 countries in the WHO African region (WHO AFR) contributed virological data for analysis - Algeria, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Côte d’Ivoire, Ethiopia, Madagascar, Mali, Mauritius, Senegal, Seychelles, South Africa, Togo, Uganda, United Republic of Tanzania, and Zambia. During week 46, 861 specimens were collected, and 831 were tested for influenza.
In Epiweek 46, 126 specimens tested positive for influenza virus (positivity of 15.2%), of which 115 specimens were Influenza A, and 11 specimens were Influenza B. The following influenza viruses were identified: Influenza A (H1N1)pdm09 (n = 26), Influenza A (H3) (n = 66), Influenza A (subtyping not performed) (n = 23), and Influenza B (Victoria) (n = 11).
SARS-CoV-2
In Epiweek 46, of the 797 specimens processed by 14 laboratories in the African Region, a total of 18 specimens tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 (positivity of 2.3%).
Cumulatively from weeks 1 to 46, the WHO AFR influenza laboratory network has tested 74,557 sentinel surveillance specimens for SARS-CoV-2, of which 2,669 were positive for SARS-CoV-2 (cumulative positivity rate 3.6%).