The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC) says the country has continued to grapple with the diphtheria outbreak
The NCDC, via its official website, said that a total of 41,336 suspected cases of diphtheria had been reported from 37 states.
It said that the cases were reported from 350 local government areas between Epidemiological Week 19, 2022, and Epidemiological Week 4, 2025.
According to NCDC’s recent data, 24,846 (60.1%) of the cases were confirmed, while 7,769 (18.8%) were discarded.
The public health agency said that classification of 3,546 cases (8.6%) was pending while the status of 5,175 cases (12.5%) was unknown.
The agency said that the burden of the outbreak was concentrated in a few states, with Kano leading with 23,784 suspected cases, followed by Yobe (5,302), Katsina (3,708), Bauchi (3,066), Borno (2,902), Kaduna (777), and Jigawa (364).
It noted that the seven states accounted for 96.5 per cent of all suspected cases.
“Of the confirmed cases, the majority—15,845 (63.9%)—occurred among children aged one to 14 years, highlighting the disease’s severe impact on younger populations.
“Alarmingly, only 4,963 (20%) of the confirmed cases were fully vaccinated with a diphtheria toxoid-containing vaccine, suggesting gaps in vaccination coverage,” it said.
The NCDC said that the outbreak had resulted in 1,262 de.aths, reflecting a Case Fatality Rate (CFR) of 5.1 per cent among confirmed cases.
Follow Us on Facebook – @LadunLiadi; Instagram – @LadunLiadi; Twitter – @LadunLiadi; Youtube – @LadunLiadiTV for updates
 says the country has continued to grapple with the diphtheria outbreak){kind=link}