The Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare says it is aware of the mounting concern regarding the recent diphtheria outbreak across several states, with over 11,000 suspected cases.

In an interview with reporters on Monday in Abuja, the executive director of the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA), Faisal Shuaib, assured that urgent vaccination efforts were underway.

He said since the confirmation of the re-emergence of diphtheria, the federal government has continued to respond to the outbreaks across different states.

According to Mr Shuaib, as of September 24, there were 11,587 reported suspected cases, of which 7,202 were confirmed from 105 local government areas in 19 states and the Federal Capital Territory.

“Most of the cases (6,185) 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).

“The majority, 5,299 (73.6er cent) of the confirmed cases occurred among children aged one to 14 years, with those aged five to 14 bearing most of the brunt of the disease.

“So far, a total of 453 deaths have occurred in confirmed cases, giving a case fatality rate (CFR) of 6.3 per cent,” he explained.

He said that given the escalation of the outbreak and the findings that 80 per cent of confirmed cases were unvaccinated, the coordinating minister of the FMOH&SW, Muhammad Ali Pate, set up a national emergency task team co-chaired by himself.

He said the team include representatives from the health and information ministries, the World Health Organisation (WHO), UNICEF, USCDC, USAID, GAVI, and other non-governmental organisations.

He said diphtheria was caused by a toxin produced by bacteria, Corynebacterium diphtheriae, and it was a vaccine-preventable disease covered by one of the vaccines provided routinely through the country’s childhood immunisation schedule.

“A historical gap in vaccination coverage is a driver of the outbreak, given the most affected age group (five–14) and the results of the nationwide diphtheria immunity survey that show only 42 per cent of children under 15 years old are fully protected from diphtheria,” he said.

He said since the confirmation of the outbreak, the FMOH&SW, through its agencies, has been coordinating surveillance and response activities across the country.

“These include response coordination, surveillance, laboratory investigation, vaccination, case management, and risk communication activities,’’ he said.

Mr Shuaib said the activities included the establishment of a Diphtheria Emergency Task Team responsible for the overall coordination of all activities encompassing government and development partners’ response activities at national and sub-national levels.

He said the intensification of routine diphtheria immunisation and reactive vaccination campaigns in 33 local government areas across five states – Bauchi, Katsina, Yobe, Kano, and Kaduna—was also part of the response activities.

(NAN)