Nigeria is experiencing the largest outbreak of diphtheria since observations began, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) told ReliefWeb.
A November 11 bulletin from the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent (IFRC) and the Nigerian Red Cross Society presented data "on 37,529 suspected cases of this disease, as well as 28,151 confirmed cases and 1,126 deaths, with a mortality rate of 3.9%."
Diphtheria has been detected since the beginning of the year in 26 of Nigeria's 36 states. The epicenter is Kano State, where 12,008 confirmed cases of the disease have been registered so far this year, which is 43% of the national total.