According to Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC) Director General, Dr. Gidado Idris, speaking to media in Abuja recently, the country has recorded more than 10,000 cases of the vaccine-preventable disease, diphtheria.
Image/Robert Herriman
Officials report that eight state account for 98 percent of the confirmed cases – Kano, Kaduna, Katsina, Borno, Bauchi, Plateau, Sokoto and Zamfara.
NCDC says low vaccination coverage in children accounts for the bulk of the burden.
The data suggests that Nigeria is not dealing with a single outbreak that suddenly appeared in 2026. It is confronting a persistent immunity gap that has allowed diphtheria transmission to continue, particularly in parts of northern Nigeria.
WHO’s regional assessment shows that Nigeria recorded 15,273 confirmed diphtheria cases in 2025, resulting in 872 deaths. More than 95 per cent of those confirmed cases were reported from five states: Kano, Borno, Bauchi, Katsina and Yobe.
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