Nigeria has recorded more than 65,000 suspected cases of cholera across 35 states and approximately 195 local government areas this year, according to the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC).
The NCDC Director-General, Jide Idris, disclosed this on Friday at a press briefing in Abuja, noting that weekly cholera cases had declined substantially from the peak recorded earlier in the year.
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However, Mr Idris said the decline in cases should not be interpreted as the end of the outbreak.
“The encouraging news is that weekly cases have declined substantially from the peak recorded earlier in the season. The proportion of reported cases resulting in death is also considerably lower than it was at the same time last year,” he said.
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“This is important progress. But I want to be very clear: the outbreak is not over.
Cholera transmission
Mr Idris said the country is still in the rainy season, when cholera transmission can increase because flooding may contaminate water sources and overwhelm sanitation systems.
He said one of the clearest lessons from the outbreak is the importance of early access to treatment, noting that people who seek care early have better outcomes.
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“In Borno State, where the majority of this year’s cases have occurred, outcomes have been better where treatment has been brought closer to affected communities,” he said.
However, he said treatment alone could not end the outbreak. “But the data are telling us something equally important: while treatment saves lives, we cannot treat our way out of cholera.”
According to the NCDC boss, unsafe water, open defecation, damaged water distribution systems, poor hygiene infrastructure, and inadequate sanitation in schools, markets, and other public institutions remain among the underlying problems driving transmission.
He called on state and local governments to improve access to safe water and sanitation, strengthen water-quality monitoring, repair critical water infrastructure and address open defecation.
He also urged authorities to ensure that high-risk local government areas have functional treatment and rapid-response capacity.
Diphtheria
Mr Idris also disclosed that Nigeria has recorded more than 10,000 confirmed cases of diphtheria this year.
He said while the disease remains a substantial burden, the proportion of confirmed cases resulting in death has declined considerably compared with the same period last year.
He said most confirmed cases are concentrated in a few states, particularly Kano, Borno and Bauchi.
“The central issue is that too many children remain unvaccinated or incompletely vaccinated,” Mr Idris said.
ALSO READ: Cholera outbreak in Borno overwhelms health facilities as suspected cases exceed 35,000
He identified vaccine hesitancy, insecurity, hard-to-reach communities, displacement, and population movement as factors that make it difficult to reach every child who needs protection.
He stressed that diphtheria is vaccine-preventable and called for improved vaccination coverage, particularly in affected, underserved and hard-to-reach communities.
NCDC response
The NCDC said it was coordinating the public health response to both outbreaks with state governments and partners, including strengthening surveillance and laboratory capacity, supporting healthcare workers and deploying National Rapid Response Teams to affected states.
For cholera, the response includes oral cholera vaccination in high-burden areas, water chlorination, rehabilitation of water sources and hygiene promotion.
The agency said its teams had investigated transmission sources and assessed water supply points in Borno, while in Bauchi, oral rehydration points had been established, treatment capacity strengthened, and active case search intensified.
For diphtheria, the response is focused on strengthening vaccination coverage and rapidly identifying and managing cases. Reactive vaccination is also being conducted in affected areas.
Mr Idris said the federal government’s efforts alone would not be enough to bring the outbreaks under control, urging state and local governments, healthcare workers, communities and families to sustain their response.
He also advised Nigerians to seek medical attention early if they develop frequent watery diarrhoea, with or without vomiting.
“Do not wait until the illness becomes severe,” he said, advising people to start oral rehydration solution immediately and proceed to the nearest health facility.
The NCDC also urged parents and caregivers to ensure that children who have missed recommended doses of the diphtheria vaccine complete their routine immunisation.
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