Why there were few cases of coronavirus disease 2019 in Libya during the first two months of the pandemic?

Review (Published online: 06-11-2020)

11. Why there were few cases of coronavirus disease 2019 in Libya during the first two months of the pandemic?

Abdunnabi A. Rayes, Badereddin B. Annajar, Abdunaser S. Dayhum and Ibrahim M. Eldaghayes

International Journal of One Health, 6(2): 160-164

Abdunnabi A. Rayes: Department of Internal Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Tripoli, Tripoli, Libya.

Badereddin B. Annajar: Department of Public Health, Faculty of Medical Technology, University of Tripoli, Tripoli, Libya; National Center for Disease Control, Tripoli, Libya.

Abdunaser S. Dayhum: Department of Preventive Medicine, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Tripoli, Tripoli, Libya.

Ibrahim M. Eldaghayes: Department of Microbiology and Parasitology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Tripoli, Tripoli, Libya.

doi: www.doi.org/10.14202/IJOH.2020.160-164

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Article history: Received: 02-08-2020, Accepted: 06-10-2020, Published online: 06-11-2020

Corresponding author: Ibrahim M. Eldaghayes

E-mail: ibrahim.eldaghayes@vetmed.edu.ly

Citation: Rayes AA, Annajar BB, Dayhum AS, Eldaghayes IM (2020) Why there were few cases of coronavirus disease 2019 in Libya during the first two months of the pandemic? Int. J. One Health, 6(2): 160-164.

Abstract

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a pandemic that affected almost all countries worldwide with more than 29,439,120 confirmed cases and 932,486 deaths recorded till on September 14, 2020. However, on May 25, 2020, after 2 months from the first reported case of COVID-19 in Libya, the country was among very few countries in the world that had very few cases of COVID-19 with a total of 75 confirmed cases and three deaths during the first 2 months since the detection of the first case on March 24, 2020. Based on the global epidemiological pattern of the disease, the magnitude of COVID-19 in Libya could have been much worse. However, the reality is eccentrically different and the epidemiology exhibited different scenario with very few cases being recorded during the first 2 months of pandemic in Libya. In this article, a review of COVID-19 situation in Libya is presented with thoughts about the potential reasons that could explain the very few cases of COVID-19 in the country in context with the global figures of the pandemic.

Keywords: coronavirus disease 2019, epidemiology, incidence, Libya, pandemic.