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[08/05/2005]
 Libya | |
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Dr Francis Louis, Yaoundé, Cameroon
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General Statistics
Area: 1,759,540 km²
Population: 4,992,838 inhabitants (1999
estimation)
Capital: Tripoli
Currency: libyan dinat
Official Language: Arabic
Bordering Countries: Tunisia, Algeria, Niger,
Chad, Sudan, Egypt 
Out of 192 countries the
“Great Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriya” (official name of
the country) ranks128th for life expectancy,
139th for infant mortality, 150th for GNP,
38th for daily calorie intake, 139th for
literacy, 89th for the percentage of children in
full-time education (source: Atlas Encyclopédique Mondial, Nathan
Ed., Paris 1996, pp.562-563).
Libya is comprised of desert and semi-desert zones, with the
exception of the coastal region, and the mountains in the south of
the country.
At the end of the 19th century malaria was present in the Fazzan
region, in a weak endemic manner. The species of parasites found
were Plasmodiumfalciparum
and Plasmodiumvivax and the
vectors were Anopheles multicolor
and Anopheles sergenti ( 2).
From 1954 to 1957, an eradication campaign based on vector control
was set up in collaboration with the USOM (United States Operation
Mission). A surveillance program, put in place by the WHO from 1958
to 1960, testified that malaria had indeed been eradicated from the
country.
A small scale epidemic was noted in 1964 (272 cases)-1965 (414
cases), another in 1980 (18 cases). The majority of other notified
cases (1966: 74 cases ; 1967: 15 cases ; 1968: 40 cases ; 1969: 1
case ; 1970: 1 case ; 1971: 11 cases ; 1972: 36 cases ; 1973: 49
cases) were all imported.
In 1985, a sero-epidemiological study was conducted on 106 children
in school, and showed the absence of antibodies in this small
group( 2).
There have been no more facts since 1985. | Bibliography
1. GHANNOUM M.A., MOORE K.E., AL-DULAIMI M., NASR M. - The
incidence of water-related diseases in the Brak area, Libya, from
1977 to 1979, before and after the installation of water treatment
plants. Zentralbl. Bakteriol. Mikrobiol. Hyg. 1981 ; 173:
501-508.
2. GEBREEL O., GILLES H.M., PRESCOTT J.E. - Studies on the
sero-epidemiology of endemic diseases in Libya. IV. Malaria.
Ann. Trop. Med. Parasitol. 1985 ; 79: 341-347.
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Version française 
