Nasarawa's Ministry of Health confirms 15 diphtheria cases across Keffi, Lafia, and Wamba LGAs, all involving unvaccinated children, with zero deaths recorded this year thanks to early detection.
Lafia, Nasarawa State — September 4, 2026
The Nasarawa State Ministry of Health has confirmed 15 cases of diphtheria across three Local Government Areas, affecting children aged between two months and 11 years, with health officials attributing the outbreak squarely to gaps in routine childhood immunisation.
Director of Public Health, Dr. Peter Attah, disclosed the figures during a press briefing in Lafia, revealing that 11 cases were recorded in Keffi Local Government Area, three in Lafia, and one in Wamba. He said investigations found that none of the affected children had been vaccinated against diphtheria, a highly contagious but vaccine-preventable disease.
Attah expressed particular concern that an 11-year-old child remained vulnerable, noting the child should have received protective vaccination more than a decade earlier. "Eleven years ago, that caregiver should have taken this child for vaccination. That was not done, and so the child even at this age is still vulnerable," he said, stressing that unvaccinated individuals of any age remain susceptible to the disease.
While Nasarawa recorded diphtheria deaths the previous year, Attah said no fatalities have been reported in 2026 among patients who presented at health facilities, attributing this to improved preparedness, a higher index of clinical suspicion, and early commencement of treatment.
Vaccines have been deployed to the Federal Medical Centre, Keffi, and the Federal University Teaching Hospital, Lafia, to support case management, including a patient referred from Wamba.
Attah described the outbreak as a wake-up call for intensified public awareness and immunisation efforts, urging parents and caregivers across the state to take advantage of free routine immunisation available at primary healthcare facilities.
The outbreak adds Nasarawa to a growing list of states, including neighbouring Plateau, grappling with diphtheria resurgences this year, a pattern health authorities attribute largely to persistent gaps in childhood vaccination coverage nationwide.
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