Plateau Shuts All Schools as Deadly Diphtheria Outbreak Claims 23 Lives Across Four LGAs

The Plateau State Government has directed the immediate and indefinite closure of all public and private primary and secondary schools across the state following an aggressive outbreak of diphtheria that has claimed over 20 lives.

The emergency measure, authorized under the administration of Governor Caleb Mutfwang, applies across all basic and post-primary institutions, including private and faith-based schools that had already resumed academic sessions for the new term. State authorities explained that the drastic step became necessary after clusters of suspected cases were detected across four major local government areas: Jos North, Jos South, Bassa, and Wase.

Announcing the directive, the State Commissioner for Information and Communication, Joyce Ramnap, instructed school heads, proprietors, and teachers to enforce total compliance with the shutdown. She advised parents and guardians to keep their children safely within domestic environments, warning that crowded classroom conditions significantly accelerate the transmission of the airborne bacterial disease, which spreads rapidly through respiratory droplets and close physical contact.

The mass shutdown comes as health facilities battle to contain a sharp spike in infections. State health data reveals that the outbreak has claimed at least 23 lives, with over 140 suspected cases documented across various communities. Severely affected patients requiring specialized isolation and intensive care are currently undergoing treatment at the Jos University Teaching Hospital (JUTH) and the Plateau Specialist Hospital.

Outlining the state’s response, the State Commissioner for Health, Nicholas Baamlong, disclosed that medical personnel are confronting acute logistical constraints. Beyond a nationwide shortage of the critical diphtheria antitoxin (DAT) needed to neutralize the toxin in severe patients, the state is facing an acute deficit of specialized transport containers required to preserve and convey clinical swabs to reference laboratories for genetic confirmation. Baamlong added that poor public awareness and late arrival of patients at health centers have worsened fatality rates.

The state government has notified the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC) to mobilize federal emergency stockpiles, including therapeutic drugs and specialized diagnostics. In the interim, rapid surveillance teams have been dispatched across the affected local government areas to conduct door-to-door contact tracing, decontaminate exposed premises, and run mop-up vaccination campaigns to prevent the disease from spreading further.