PLATEAU State has reported 469 suspected cases of diphtheria, with 31 deaths, while 160,000 children have been vaccinated against the disease, the state government said, on Thursday in Jos.
Commissioner for Health in the state, Dr Nicholas Ba’amlong, said this, at a news conference, stateing that the government had intensified measures to contain the disease across Plateau statewide.
According to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), Ba’amlong said the state began recording children with symptoms suggestive of diphtheria at the beginning of 2026, adding that the situation became a public health concern in August during the period.
He said the government had intensified sensitisation and vaccination campaigns in affected communities across the state to contain the spread of the disease and protect vulnerable children effectively across Plateau communities.
The commissioner added that 17 patients were currently receiving treatment at Jos University Teaching Hospital (JUTH) and Plateau Specialist Hospital, where isolation centres had been established for suspected cases within the state.
He said 10 Local Government Areas in Plateau had been affected by diphtheria: Jos North, Jos South, Wase, Barkin Ladi, Mangu, Kanam, Pankshin, Shendam, Bassa and Mikang in the state.
Ba’amlong noted that Jos North recorded the highest number of cases among the affected local government areas, while the state continued surveillance and response activities to contain transmission in affected communities statewide.
He said medications had been distributed to the two hospitals to support treatment of affected patients and strengthen clinical management of suspected diphtheria cases across the affected areas in Plateau.
The commissioner insisted taht the prevalence of the disease was on the decline, indicating that intensified vaccination, surveillance and community sensitisation efforts were beginning to produce positive results across Plateau communities statewide.
He further said the state had alerted the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA) and requested additional diphtheria vaccines to strengthen ongoing immunisation activities across affected communities during the response.
The commissioner urged parents to ensure that their children received and completed routine immunisation, noting that some affected children had either not been vaccinated or had incomplete vaccination across the state.