Nigeria has recorded a total of 41,336 suspected diphtheria cases across 36 states and the FCT, as the country continues to grapple with a diphtheria outbreak.
The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, NCDC, disclosed this via its official website.
The cases were reported from 350 local government areas between Epidemiological Week 19, 2022, and Epidemiological Week 4, 2025.
According to the latest information from NCDC, 24,846 cases (60.1%) were confirmed, while 7,769 (18.8%) were discarded.
It further said the classification of 3,546 cases (8.6%) is pending, while the status of 5,175 cases (12.5%) remains unknown.
The agency noted that the outbreak is concentrated in a few states, with Kano leading with 23,784 suspected cases, followed by Yobe (5,302), Katsina (3,708), Bauchi (3,066), Borno (2,902), Kaduna (777), and Jigawa (364).
While stating that the seven states account for 96.5 per cent of all suspected cases, the NCDC reported that the outbreak has resulted in 1,262 deaths, reflecting a case fatality rate, CFR, of 5.1 per cent among confirmed cases.
It gave the highest number of confirmed cases as follow; Kano (17,770), followed by Bauchi with (2,334), Yobe (2,380), Katsina (1,088), Borno (1,036), Jigawa (53), Plateau (31), and Kaduna (44).
These states account for 99.4 per cent of all confirmed cases.
The agency further disclosed that eight suspected cases were recently recorded in two states across five local government areas.
Six of the cases (75%) were confirmed as clinically compatible with diphtheria.
No deaths were recorded in the latest cases, keeping the CFR at zero per cent for the period.
NCDC stressed that with the majority of cases occurring in children, strengthening immunisation efforts remains critical.
The health institute added that public health campaigns, improved surveillance, as well as rapid response initiatives are being deployed, particularly in the hardest-hit states.
