13 June 2018 – In its continued efforts to respond to any possible outbreak and the laboratory diagnosis of measles infection, WHO has provided support to the Libyan Ministry of Health with antiviral medication (Tamiflu) that blocks the actions of influenza virus types A and B in the body. This amount is sufficient for more than 350 cases as part of  preparedness efforts for an expected outbreak of any such disease. Also, WHO provided measles and rubella reagent kits to support preparedness and response measures that the Ministry is currently implementing.

The contents of the kits include measles virus IgM, rubella IgM and RF-absorbent (reagent for the IgM ELISAs).

When presenting the kits to the laboratory focal point at the Ministry of Health on Monday 28 May 2018, Dr Jaffar Hussain Syed, WHO Representative in Libya and Head of Mission said that WHO was committed to helping Libya mitigate any expected outbreak through its collaborative project on emergency preparedness. He also reiterated that WHO suggested teh response to control the outbreak should be the immediate implementation of an MMR/vitamin A campaign targeting children aged 9 months to 15 years residing in high-risk and affected areas in south Libya where there are also a large population of migrants: Sabha, Ghat, Murzuq, and Obari.

The vaccination of people in densely populated areas with poor sanitation, such as Tripoli, Zilten, Albaida, and Benghazi should also be considered.