Mirian Gom 
KANO, Nigeria – The Kano State Government has appealed to the Federal Government for additional diphtheria vaccines to strengthen its response to the ongoing outbreak, as health authorities intensify efforts to contain the disease.
The Director-General of the Kano State Centre for Disease Control (KNCDC), Prof. Muhammad Abbas, made the appeal during a press briefing on Tuesday night following reports of a diphtheria outbreak in Rano and other local government areas.
The outbreak, recently highlighted by the Kano State House of Assembly, has reportedly claimed the lives of more than 50 children.
Abbas disclosed that the state had formally requested additional vaccine supplies from the Federal Government to enable wider immunisation across affected communities.
“Kano State has written to the Federal Government requesting more vaccines so that we can vaccinate more people and protect our communities,” he said.
The KNCDC boss urged parents and guardians to seek immediate medical attention whenever children show symptoms of diphtheria or other infectious diseases, stressing that early diagnosis and treatment significantly improve survival.
According to him, Kano has 126 Disease Surveillance and Notification Officers deployed across its 44 local government areas to detect and respond to outbreaks promptly.
“It is disheartening that many of these cases were never reported to hospitals. We urge parents to visit the nearest healthcare facility immediately when symptoms appear,” Abbas said.
He revealed that Kano has recorded more than 38,000 suspected diphtheria cases since 2022, with over 31,000 confirmed infections.
More than 55 per cent of confirmed cases involved children who had never received routine immunisation, while another significant proportion had only partial vaccination.
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Korede Abdullah 
Abah Felicity 