Case fatality rate of zoonotic SARS.CoV2 and associated risk factors in the Libyan population

Abstract

Background: Infectious zoonotic viral respiratory diseases have dramatically emerged and reemerged globally, with high socioeconomic and public health impacts. The coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) outbreak was first reported in China as a transmissible disease among animals and humans with great universal public concern. Later, it slipped across the world as a pandemic with a high significant case fatality rate (CFR). Aim: This study was conducted to estimate the CFR and potentially associated risk factors among animals and the Libyan population. Methods: This retrospective cohort study assessed the CFR of COVID-19 and investigated the potentially associated risk factors (socio-demographic data, animal reservoir, household characteristics, and health status) among the Libyan population from July 2020 to January 2021. A total of 3000 respiratory specimens (nasopharyngeal swabs) were screened by real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) to detect SARS-CoV-2. Descriptive analyses, frequency, and percentage were measured for numerical data and numbers, and rate for qualitative data. The level of the association among variables at the significance level (p [Open Vet J 2025; 15(2.000): 885-892]