Nigeria Records 1,319 Diphtheria Deaths Amid Vaccination Gaps

Diphtheria is a serious bacterial infection caused by the corynebacterium species that affects an individual’s nose, throat and sometimes, skin.

17 March 2025

Leadership (Abuja)

The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC) has said that 1,319 deaths have been recorded from diphtheria between epidemiological week 19 of 2022 and week 10 of 2025, highlighting significant gaps in vaccination coverage.

On Sunday, NCDC's epidemiological report, posted on its official website, said that 42,642 suspected cases were recorded across 37 states and 350 local government areas (LGAs). Of these, 25,812 cases (60.5%) were confirmed, while 5,470 cases remain unclassified.

The report revealed that the hardest-hit states include Kano, Yobe, Katsina, Bauchi, Borno, Kaduna, and Jigawa, which accounted for 96.3 per cent of all suspected cases.

It also showed that children between ages one and 14 were the most affected, accounting for 62.9 per cent (16,234 cases) of all confirmed infections.

Alarmingly, only 4,981 (19.3%) of the confirmed cases had received complete vaccination with a diphtheria toxoid-containing vaccine.

For epidemiological week 10 of 2025, 23 suspected cases were reported from two states: Lagos (20) and Katsina (3). However, none were confirmed, and no deaths were recorded during this period.

NCDC has been implementing response measures, including surveillance and coordination, laboratory testing, case management, vaccination Drive and Risk Communication.

However, the centre said several challenges persist, including a low test positivity rate, as all confirmed cases in 2024 were based on clinical symptoms rather than laboratory confirmation and limited testing resources, with inadequate reagents and consumables for PCR testing on clinical samples.

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