As of October 19, 2023, the Director-General of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), Ifedayo Adetifa, revealed that Nigeria has recorded approximately 15,060 suspected cases of diphtheria infections.

Out of these cases, 9,478 have been confirmed across 137 local government areas in 20 states and the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja.

During a press briefing in Abuja, Adetifa shared that 71.5 percent of the confirmed cases were among individuals aged one to 14 years, with infants accounting for less than one percent of the cases. The data indicated that Kano has the highest number of cases at 7,747, followed by Yobe with 841 cases.

Adetifa further provided a breakdown of the cases, stating that Bauchi recorded 369 infections, followed by Katsina with 275, Borno with 164, Jigawa with 24, Kaduna with 18, Lagos with eight, Zamfara with seven, FCT with seven, Gombe with five, Sokoto with four, Osun with three, and Niger State with two cases.

Additionally, Cross River, Enugu, Imo, Nasarawa, Kebbi, and Taraba states each recorded one case of diphtheria infection.

The Executive Director of the National Primary Health Care Development Agency, Faisal Shuaib, also addressed the briefing and highlighted the vaccination efforts. He reported that 1,692,762 children between six months and four years of age had received the Pentavalent vaccine, which provides vital protection against the disease. Furthermore, 3,166,419 children aged four to 14 years had been vaccinated with the TD vaccines, strengthening the country’s defense against diphtheria among children and teenagers.

Shuaib mentioned that the second phase, round one of the outbreak response using diphtheria vaccines, began on September 23. This phase has been implemented in seven states, covering 56 local government areas heavily affected by the ongoing outbreak. Kano State demonstrated its commitment by immunizing 1,111,310 children with TD vaccines and 544,737 children with Pentavalent vaccines during this phase. Katsina, another hotspot, vaccinated 403,252 children with TD vaccines and 255,075 children with Pentavalent vaccines.

Shuaib highlighted the efforts of Kaduna, Bauchi, Borno, Jigawa, and Yobe states, emphasizing that they have remained dedicated to ensuring the health and well-being of hundreds of thousands of children through focused vaccination campaigns.