More than 50 children have died from a diphtheria outbreak in Rano Local Government Area of Kano State in northwestern Nigeria, prompting a lawmaker to raise an urgent alarm in the state parliament and local authorities to launch emergency health measures.
Ibrahim Malami, who represents Rano Constituency in the Kano State House of Assembly, disclosed the death toll during a motion of urgent public importance on Tuesday. He said the outbreak had severely affected communities in Rurum Ward, including Rurum A, Rurum B and Sabuwar Kaura, where families were losing children at an alarming rate.
Malami urged authorities at both state and federal level to step up efforts to contain the disease, saying the local government medical department had launched emergency measures and his office had provided medicines to support the response.
Official Response and Case Numbers
Professor Muhammad Abbas, Director-General of the Kano State Centre for Disease Control, confirmed during a news conference at the centre’s headquarters that the state had officially recorded 32 diphtheria cases so far in 2026. Of these, 25 were reported in August alone, with six in July and one in May, indicating a sharp acceleration in recent weeks.
Seven of the confirmed patients were admitted to the Infectious Disease Hospital in Kano, the state’s designated treatment centre for diphtheria. However, health officials acknowledge that the true number of cases, particularly in remote rural communities, may be significantly higher than the officially confirmed figure.
Diphtheria is a highly contagious vaccine-preventable disease caused mainly by the bacteria Corynebacterium diphtheriae. It spreads through respiratory droplets and direct contact, and can be fatal in 5 to 10 percent of cases, with a higher mortality rate among young children who remain unvaccinated.
A Wider Crisis Across Northern Nigeria
The Kano outbreak is the latest chapter in a diphtheria crisis that has gripped northern Nigeria since 2022. In 2023, the country experienced a massive second wave of the disease, with over 8,300 suspected cases reported across 11 states. Kano bore the heaviest burden, accounting for the majority of confirmed infections.
During the 2023 surge, the World Health Organization disbursed 1.3 million dollars for the response, supporting enhanced disease surveillance, laboratory testing, contact tracing, case investigation and treatment. With support from WHO and UNICEF, Kano state carried out three phases of reactive immunisation campaigns using combination tetanus-diphtheria and pentavalent vaccines.
Nearly 75,000 zero-dose children under two received the first dose of the pentavalent vaccine, while around 670,000 eligible children aged four to 14 were vaccinated with the tetanus-diphtheria vaccine in 18 high-burden local government areas. Despite these efforts, vaccination coverage gaps persist across the region.
Vaccination Gaps and Community Challenges
Data from the 2023 outbreak revealed that only 22.8 percent of confirmed diphtheria cases had been fully vaccinated, while 59.4 percent were completely unvaccinated. The case fatality ratio stood at 6.1 percent, with children aged one to nine accounting for the vast majority of infections.
The challenge is compounded by densely populated communities, limited healthcare infrastructure and gaps in routine immunisation across northern Nigeria. Many families in remote areas have limited access to healthcare facilities, and vaccine hesitancy remains a barrier in some communities.
Dr Abubakar Labaran Yusuf, Kano State Commissioner of Health, has emphasised that interrupting transmission in Kano state is crucial to reduce the risk of spread at the community level. WHO has called for greater investment in reaching unvaccinated children and strengthening routine immunisation systems.
Urgent Call for Intervention
The resurgence of diphtheria in Kano has renewed calls for a more robust and sustained public health response. Health experts say the pattern of periodic outbreaks followed by emergency campaigns is insufficient to break the cycle of transmission, and that consistent routine immunisation coverage is the only reliable long-term solution.
With the 2026 lean season coinciding with the outbreak, displaced populations and those facing food insecurity are particularly vulnerable. Malnutrition weakens immune systems and makes children more susceptible to severe diphtheria, raising fears that the death toll could climb further without immediate intervention.
The Kano State Government faces pressure to demonstrate that the emergency measures announced this week will translate into tangible action on the ground, particularly in the remote communities of Rano where the crisis is deepest.
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