Diphtheria Outbreak Kills 4, 28 Hospitalised In Kano

Kano State- No fewer than twenty-eight people have been hospitalised while four others have died following a fresh outbreak of diphtheria in Kano State.

In a statement on Thursday, by the Information Officer of the local government, Tasiu Dadin-Duniya, said, “Four children have died of diphtheria and 28 children have contracted the disease in Kwarkiya, Kuru, Kunya and Minjibir villages in the Minjibir Local Government Area of the state.

“The Interim Management Officer of the local government, Muhammad Yakubu Kunya, has called on the authorities and stakeholders to immediately reach out to Minjibir local government to protect the health of the communities”.

The statement said the district head of the local government has also urged traditional rulers and Islamic scholars in the communities to enlighten the community and to pray for relief.

When contacted, the Public Relations Officer of the State Ministry of Health, Ibrahim Abdullahi, said the report had been forwarded to the State Director of Public Health and had yet to confirm or deny the outbreak.

Diphtheria, a severe bacterial infection, impacts the nasal passages, throat, and occasionally, the skin. It is brought about by Corynebacterium species, primarily toxin-producing Corynebacterium diphtheriae, and occasionally by toxin-producing strains of C. ulcerans and C. pseudotuberculosis. Symptoms typically include inflammation of the larynx, throat, or tonsils, often accompanied by the formation of a membranous covering over these areas. Additionally, around a quarter of cases may experience complications such as myocarditis, affecting the heart.

Data obtained from the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention showed that from week nine of 2022 (May 2022) to week 11 of 2022 (mid-March 2024), 16,518 confirmed cases of diphtheria have been reported out of 28,975 suspected cases from 35 states across 317 Local Government Areas.

The data also showed that Kano, Yobe, Katsina, Bauchi, Borno, Kaduna, and Jigawa states bear 96.4 per cent burden of the disease.