Posted by There have been 91 instances of possible diphtheria reported across 14 of Jigawa State’s LGAs.
Dr. Salisu Muazu, permanent secretary of the Jigawa Ministry of Health, made the announcement on Saturday to reporters in Dutse, the state capital.
In the last four months, there has been a diphtheria outbreak in the northern regions of Nigeria.
Particularly in the neighboring states of Kano, Yobe, Katsina, and Bauchi.
“Roughly two weeks ago, we began receiving patients in 14 local government units bordering states where diphtheria was already entrenched who were showing symptoms of the disease.
After sending in 91 samples, the National Reference Laboratory in Abuja confirmed that two were indeed positive for diphtheria, as Muazu explained.
He went on to say that samples from both the Kazaure and Jahun local government regions in Jigawa had tested positive.
According to the permanent secretary, most of the victims were children who were either not fully immunized or who received no childhood immunizations at all.
In fact, Jigawa has been diphtheria-free for the past decade, whereas the outbreak has occurred in neighboring states.
He speculated that the breakdown of healthcare services during the COVID-19 era was to blame for the disease’s current prevalence.
Muazu pleaded with parents and community leaders to back health workers and help them complete mop-up immunizations in the impacted local government regions.
Those who suspect a case of diphtheria were urged to contact their local Disease Notification Officer or go to the emergency room immediately.