Zamfara State has recorded 39 deaths from diphtheria and 261 suspected cases across 10 Local Government Areas, adding to a wider outbreak concentrated in northern Nigeria. Gusau Local Government Area has reported 191 cases, the highest total in the state.
The Zamfara figures are for suspected cases, and the information available does not establish whether laboratory confirmation has been completed for all 261 patients.
Eight states account for 98% of Nigeria’s confirmed diphtheria cases: Kano, Kaduna, Katsina, Borno, Bauchi, Plateau, Sokoto, and Zamfara.
In Kano State, over 30,000 cases of diphtheria have been recorded and all 44 Local Government Areas have been affected.
Health officials have identified missed vaccinations and immunisation hesitancy as major drivers of the spread. About 68% of confirmed diphtheria cases involved unvaccinated people, while the vaccination status of 28% was unknown. Most fatalities have occurred among unvaccinated people.
Insecurity, population movement, limited healthcare access and misinformation have also contributed to low vaccination coverage, particularly across northern Nigeria. Above 80 per cent vaccination coverage is needed to achieve herd immunity.
The Federal Government has deployed 500,000 doses of diphtheria vaccines to Kano and Katsina states. Prof. Muhammad Ali Pate, the Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, ordered the emergency response.
An emergency multi-agency task force has been activated. It is co-chaired by the director-general of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention and the health ministry’s director of public health.
Its members include representatives of NPHCDA, health commissioners from Katsina, Kano, Zamfara and Sokoto states, the World Health Organization, UNICEF and the National Tuberculosis and Leprosy Control Programme. The available information does not say whether the vaccine doses sent to Kano and Katsina have been administered, or what uptake has been achieved.
Patients in Zamfara are being treated at the WCWC Primary Healthcare Centre in Kwata and the Infectious Disease Centre in Damba, Gusau. Annexes are planned in Katsina senatorial districts.
Nigeria has 33,000 primary health care centers, though not all are fully functional. Over 20,000 provide routine immunisation services. The outbreak has exposed the consequences of gaps between the existence of health facilities and consistent access to vaccination and treatment.
Diphtheria is a bacterial infection caused by Corynebacterium, which produces a toxin that can affect the nose, throat, tonsils, larynx, heart, nerves and kidneys. It can pass between people through respiratory droplets, contact with infected open sores, or contaminated clothing and objects.
Symptoms include a mild fever, sore throat, swollen glands around the neck and difficulty breathing. The federal response has brought state health agencies and international partners into the effort, though no results from the emergency measures have yet been reported.
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