The Bauchi State government has officially confirmed a suspected outbreak of diphtheria in the Jama’are local government area of the State, resulting in the tragic death of two students.
Dr. Rilwanu Mohammed, the Executive Chairman of Bauchi State Primary Health Care Development Agency (BSPHCDA), addressed the media in Bauchi on Wednesday, providing information about the situation. Out of 58 samples taken, two were confirmed to have succumbed to diphtheria disease, while tests were ongoing for the others.
The agency is taking swift measures to contain the potential spread of the outbreak, and vaccination will be administered to prevent further cases.
As a precautionary measure, the state government has ordered the closure of all affected schools in the local government area.
Dr. Mohammed emphasized that any school in the state where a case of diphtheria is confirmed will also be closed down to prevent further risk.
“We need to vaccinate children at six weeks and the good news is that the vaccination is free,” he said.
Dr. Mohammed described the deaths of the students as unfortunate, saying further laboratory tests would confirm if they actually died of Diphtheria or not.
