NCDC: Borno, Kano, Plateau, Five Others Account for 98% of Confirmed Diphtheria Cases in Nigeria

. Plateau orders closure of primary, secondary schools over outbreak

Onyebuchi Ezigbo in Abuja and Yemi Kosoko in Jos

The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC) has said that Borno, Kano, Plateau and five other states in the country accounted for 98 per cent of the confirmed cases of diphtheria, a vaccine-preventable disease.

This comes as the Plateau State Government has ordered the temporary closure of primary and secondary schools as part of measures to contain the spread of the diphtheria outbreak.

The Principal Health Communication Officer in the Department of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion at the NCDC, Michael Okali, identified the affected states as Kano, Kaduna, Katsina, Borno, Bauchi, Plateau, Sokoto, and Zamfara.