Respiratory virus surveillance in the WHO African Region Epidemiological WWeek 13, March 23 to 29 2026
During Epiweek 13, 9 countries in the WHO African region (WHO AFR) contributed virological data for analysis - Algeria, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Mauritius, Mozambique, Senegal, South Africa, Uganda, and Zambia. During week 13, 576 specimens were collected, and 446 were tested for influenza.
In Epiweek 13, 62 specimens tested positive for influenza virus (positivity of 13.9%), of which 45 specimens were Influenza A, and 17 specimens were Influenza B. The following influenza viruses were identified: Influenza A (H1N1)pdm09 (n = 10), Influenza A (H3) (n = 13), Influenza A (subtyping not performed) (n = 22), Influenza B (lineage not determined) (n = 3), and Influenza B (Victoria) (n = 14).
SARS-CoV-2
In Epiweek 13, of the 401 specimens processed by 7 laboratories in the African Region, a total of 8 specimens tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 (positivity of 2%).
Cumulatively from weeks 1 to 13, the WHO AFR influenza laboratory network has tested 15,446 sentinel surveillance specimens for SARS-CoV-2, of which 623 were positive for SARS-CoV-2 (cumulative positivity rate 4%).