Diphtheria Outbreak: Nigeria records 453 deaths, 11,587 suspected cases

The federal government reported Monday that Nigeria had registered 453 fatalities and 11,587 cases in 19 states of the federation, raising concerns about the spread of the diphtheria disease.

From 105 local government areas (LGAs) in 19 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), 7,202 of the suspected cases were confirmed.

A breakdown of the figure showed that Kano State accounted for 6,185, Yobe (640), Katsina (213), Borno (95), Kaduna (16), Jigawa (14), Bauchi (8), Lagos (8), FCT (5), Gombe (5), Osun (3), Sokoto (3), Niger (2), Cross River (1), Enugu (1), Imo (1), Nasarawa (1) and Zamfara (1).

In an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja yesterday, Dr. Faisal Shuaib, executive director of the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA), provided the statistics.

Shuaib observed that children aged one year to 14 years made up 5,299, or 73.6 percent, of the confirmed cases, with those in the age range of five to 14 bearing the majority of the disease's toll.

He said, “So far, a total of 453 deaths have occurred in confirmed cases, giving a case fatality rate (CFR) of 6.3 per cent.”

According to Shuaib, the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare was informed of the growing worry regarding the Diphtheria outbreak in numerous states with more than 11,587 probable cases.

He claimed that ever since the resurgence of diphtheria was confirmed, the federal government has kept up its response to outbreaks occurring in various states.

According to the NPHCDA, the coordinating minister of health and social welfare, Prof. Muhammad Ali Pate, established a national emergency task team with himself as co-chairman due to the outbreak's progression and the discovery that 80% of reported cases were unvaccinated.

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