Abah Felicity 
KANO, Nigeria – The Kano diphtheria cases have been driven largely by children who have never received any routine vaccination, according to the Kano State Centre for Disease Control (KNCDC), which says thousands of preventable infections continue to fuel the state’s prolonged outbreak.
Speaking on the scale of the outbreak, KNCDC Director-General, Prof. Muhammad Adamu-Abbas, said Kano recorded more than 39,000 suspected diphtheria cases between 2 December 2022 and 26 August 2026. He disclosed that more than 32,000 cases were confirmed through laboratory testing as well as clinical and epidemiological assessments.
According to Adamu-Abbas, more than 16,000 confirmed infections involved zero-dose children—those who have never received any vaccination—making them the single largest group affected by the disease.
“Over 9,000 confirmed patients were fully vaccinated, while others were either partially vaccinated or had no available vaccination records,” he said.
The KNCDC chief also revealed that diphtheria has claimed more than 1,800 lives in Kano during the period under review, describing the outbreak as a major public health challenge that requires sustained intervention from government, health workers and communities.
He said the state government has intensified its response by establishing 26 treatment centres across Kano to improve access to diagnosis, treatment and referral services for infected patients.
Adamu-Abbas noted that the additional treatment centres have helped reduce the disease burden by bringing healthcare closer to affected communities and strengthening the state’s capacity to manage suspected and confirmed cases.
Despite the progress, he warned that routine childhood immunisation remains the most effective way to prevent diphtheria, stressing that unvaccinated children continue to face the greatest risk of infection and severe complications.
He urged parents and caregivers to ensure their children receive all recommended routine vaccines, saying increased immunisation coverage would significantly reduce future outbreaks.
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Oluwafunbi Bello 
Korede Abdullah