Nearly 1,200 killed in Nigeria diphtheria outbreak

ABUJA, Oct. 24 (Xinhua) — Nearly 1,200 people were killed in the diphtheria outbreak in Nigeria over the past 17 months, said the Nigeria Center for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC) in its latest update on the spread of the disease in Africa’s most populous country.
Since the onset of the outbreak in May 2023, a total of 38,000 suspected cases have been reported, with 23,000 confirmed so far, Muzzammil Gadanya, the incident manager of the National Diphtheria Emergency Operations Center at the NCDC, told reporters Wednesday in the northern state of Kaduna.
Diphtheria is a serious bacterial infection that affects the nose, throat and sometimes the skin.
“So far, at least 1,191 people have died from the disease,” Gadanya said, explaining that public health authorities have taken measures to reduce its spread and are evaluating strategies to combat the outbreak while identifying areas needing further improvement.
He said that vaccines have been made available for routine immunization as part of efforts to contain the disease.
According to a 2023 report by the World Health Organization, only 57 percent of Nigeria’s population has received the pentavalent vaccine, which protects against diphtheria and four other life-threatening diseases. The global health body has urged Nigeria to increase vaccination coverage to at least 80 percent to ensure community protection and prevent future outbreaks in the country. ■