An estimate of 453 people have been killed by diphtheria in 18 states across Nigeria. The Federal Government of Nigeria has announced that so far, 453 deaths have been recorded across the West African country.
It says a total of 11,587 suspected cases of diphtheria were recorded, while 7,202 cases were confirmed from 105 local governments in the 18 states.
The update was announced by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC) in a publication on its website on Monday.
Diphtheria is a highly infectious disease caused by a toxin-synthetic bacteria called Corynebacterium diphtheriae.
However, the disease can be prevented by one of the vaccines usually administered during Nigeria’s frequent immunisation programmes.
The statement by the NCDC reads: “Most (6,185) of the confirmed cases were recorded in Kano. Other States with cases are 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).”
According to the statement, most of the confirmed cases, 5,299 (73.6%) were recorded among children between ages 1-14, with those within age bracket 5-14 suffering acute cases of Diphtheria.
The NCDC added that , “So far, 453 people have died in confirmed cases, with a case fatality rate (CFR) of 6.3%”.
A national emergency task team has also been established by the Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Prof Muhammad Pate, in response to an ongoing escalation in the disease, which involved 80 percent of unvaccinated cases
The Diphtheria emergency team will be co-chaired by the Executive Director of the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA) and the Director General of the NCDC for higher level coordination of outbreak response.
The outbreak was confirmed in some areas of Nigeria’s Federal Capital Territory, Abuja in early July after the FCT Director of the Public Health Department, Dr. Sadiq Abdulrahman, reported the epidemic.
In his remarks at the press conference, Abdulrahman noted that the illness had already claimed the life of a four-year-old. He also noted that the Nigeria Centre for Disease and Control had launched a nationwide response in response to prior outbreaks in the states of Lagos, Ondo, and Kano in January.
A nationwide immunisation was launched in late July after 130 people were hospitalised in Kano State after the outbreak.
