Responding to the Diphtheria Outbreak: West African Authorities Take Action to Address Huge Epidemic
ABUJA, Nigeria — Health authorities in several West African countries are grappling with massive outbreaks of diphtheria, notably in Nigeria where a senior health official revealed that millions are being immunized to address significant gaps in immunity against the disease.
Out of the 11,640 cases diagnosed in Nigeria since the most recent outbreak began in December 2022, at least 573 individuals have succumbed to the disease. However, officials believe that the actual death toll, currently decreasing due to treatment efforts, may be much higher in states struggling to identify many cases.
In Niger, there have been 865 cases with 37 deaths as of October, while Guinea has reported 497 cases and 58 deaths since the outbreak began in June.
“As far as the history that I am aware of, this is the largest outbreak that we have had,” stated Ifedayo Adetifa, head of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control, in an interview with The Associated Press.
The highly contagious bacterial infection has been reported in 20 of Nigeria’s 36 states thus far.
A major contributing factor to the high infection rate in the region has been a historically wide gap in vaccination coverage, as noted by the French medical organization Doctors Without Borders, or MSF, in a recent statement.
In Nigeria, a government survey found that only 42% of children under 15 years old are fully protected from diphtheria, while Guinea has an immunization rate of 47%—both well below the 80–85% rate recommended by the World Health Organization to maintain community immunity.
The affected countries’ predicament is exacerbated by global shortages of the diphtheria vaccine, as demand has surged in response to outbreaks, according to the MSF.
“We’re not seeing vaccination happen, not at the scale that is needed,” remarked Dr. Dagemlidet Tesfaye Worku, emergency medical program manager for MSF in Abidjan, Ivory Coast. “What is needed is a truly massive scale-up of vaccination, as soon as possible.”
The Nigerian government is intensifying vaccination efforts targeting specific populations while aiding states in augmenting their capability to identify and manage cases, as stated by Adetifa, the head of Nigeria CDC.
However, several states, including Kano, which accounts for over 75% of cases in Nigeria, struggle with only two diphtheria treatment centers, according to Abubakar Labaran Yusuf, the state’s top health official.
“Once people have to travel or move significant distances to access treatment, that becomes a challenge,” Adetifa added.
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