Fresh diphtheria outbreak kills 10 in Kano

A resurgence of deadly Diphtheria disease has killed 10 persons and hundreds of suspected cases admitted in Kano.

Consequently, the Kano State Government has activated special treatment centre across all the secondary and primary healthcare facilities to curtail the spread of the airborne disease in the state.

Commissioner for Health, Dr. Abubakar Labaran Yusuf, confirmed the resurgence and present mortality rate to journalists Friday.

He however refuted the escalating figures already in the public domain.

Unofficial sources said 40 suspects died of Diphtheria in less than one week at the state Infectious Diseases Hospital, suggesting another health burden in the densely populated city.

Kano became the epic centre of the dangerous disease since the outbreak hit the country again in November 2022, accounting for about 80 percent of the prevalence and mortality.

The persistent routine immunization gap coupled with worsening zero doses of immunization and negligence of precautionary measures has further provoked the resurgence of the dangerous disease.

However, Yusuf attributed the resurgence to stark neglect of routine immunization by the immediate past administration and claimed that the current government inherited 18 months of abandoned immunization.

“When we came in June, 2023, we discovered no routine immunization exercise carried out for 18 months. And as at then, Kano was mounted with 80 per cent of the burden. The record then showed 23,207 cases treated and 1,000 mortality,” Yusuf said.

“When we came, we set up machinery and three rounds of immunization were conducted and sooner the cases dropped drastically such that government decided to close two out of the three treatment centres. Presently, we have 100 cases under treatment and 10 casualties in the last one week.”