Korede Abdullah in Lagos
The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC) has reported that the country is still grappling with a diphtheria outbreak, with a total of 41,336 suspected cases recorded across 37 states and 350 local government areas from May 2022 to January 2025.
Of these cases, 24,846 (60.1%) were confirmed, while 7,769 (18.8%) were discarded. The outbreak is mainly concentrated in a few states, with Kano leading with 23,784 suspected cases, followed by Yobe, Katsina, Bauchi, Borno, Kaduna, and Jigawa.
The outbreak has had a devastating impact on younger populations, with 15,845 (63.9%) of the confirmed cases reported among children aged 1-14 years. Furthermore, only 4,963 (20%) of the confirmed cases had received a full vaccination with a diphtheria toxoid-containing vaccine, highlighting significant gaps in vaccination coverage.
The NCDC has emphasized the critical importance of vaccination in combating the disease, as the outbreak has led to 1,262 deaths, with a Case Fatality Rate (CFR) of 5.1% among confirmed cases.
Recently, eight suspected cases were recorded across two states and five local government areas, with six of these cases (75%) confirmed as clinically compatible with diphtheria. However, no deaths were reported, maintaining a CFR of 0% for this batch of cases.
