KANO, Nigeria — Health authorities in northern Nigeria are seeking additional diphtheria vaccines as they investigate reports that more than 50 children have died in an outbreak in Kano State, renewing concern over a vaccine preventable disease that has repeatedly hit communities with low immunization coverage.
The Kano State Government has asked Nigeria’s federal government to provide more vaccines for a wider immunization campaign. Professor Muhammad Abbas, director general of the Kano State Centre for Disease Control, said the request followed renewed cases in Rano and other parts of the state.
“Kano State has even written to the Federal Government to get more and more vaccines so that we vaccinate our people,” Abbas told reporters. He also urged parents to seek medical help as soon as children develop symptoms, saying early treatment can be critical to survival.
The push for more vaccines came after Kano State lawmakers said more than 50 children had died in communities in Rano Local Government Area. Ibrahim Muhammad, a lawmaker representing Rano, told the state House of Assembly that the outbreak was particularly severe in Ridin and Sabuwar Kaura and called for additional emergency assistance.
Health officials, however, have cautioned that the reported death toll is still being investigated. The Kano State Centre for Disease Control said its surveillance records had not yet confirmed that more than 50 deaths were caused by diphtheria. Abbas said teams had been sent to Rano to investigate the deaths, including interviewing families to determine the circumstances surrounding cases that were never reported to health facilities.
Kano had officially recorded 32 diphtheria cases in 2026 at the time of the latest briefing, including 25 in August, six in July and one in May. Seven patients were admitted to the Infectious Disease Hospital in Kano, while other patients were receiving treatment closer to the affected communities.
The outbreak has also raised concerns about children who have received little or no routine immunization. Abbas said Kano had recorded more than 38,000 suspected diphtheria cases since 2022, with more than 31,000 confirmed. More than half of those affected were children who had received no vaccinations, while many others had been only partly immunized.
Diphtheria is a highly contagious bacterial infection that commonly affects the throat and upper respiratory tract. It can cause breathing difficulties and produce toxins capable of damaging the heart and nervous system. Vaccination is the main form of prevention, and people who are not immunized or have incomplete vaccination are at greater risk of severe illness.
Kano has been at the center of Nigeria’s prolonged struggle with the disease. National surveillance data covering the outbreak from 2022 into 2025 recorded more than 18,000 confirmed cases in Kano, far more than any other state. The World Health Organization has also identified low vaccination coverage and large numbers of children who have never received routine vaccines as major factors behind repeated outbreaks across Nigeria.
Authorities and international health organizations have carried out several vaccination drives in Kano. Doctors Without Borders said in July that it had supported the state government in administering more than 835,000 diphtheria vaccinations during two recent campaign rounds. The organization also treated more than 14,700 children during three years of emergency diphtheria response work in the state.
The latest reports show that vaccination efforts have not eliminated the risk, particularly in communities where children remain unvaccinated or where sick patients reach hospitals late. Kano officials say expanded immunization, stronger disease surveillance and quicker reporting by families will be essential to stopping further transmission and preventing more deaths.
