Reports indicate that diphtheria has claimed the lives of approximately 50 people, most of them children, in Rano Local Government Area of Kano State.
The situation prompted a state lawmaker representing Rano, Ibrahim Muhammad, to table an emergency motion during Tuesday's legislative session, calling on the government to take measures to curb the spread of the disease.
The lawmaker said the outbreak is most severe in the towns of Ridin and Sabuwar Qaura, where child deaths have been recorded and others have been hospitalized.
He urged Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf and the Ministry of Health to increase emergency support, including providing medicines and deploying health workers to the affected areas.
Another lawmaker, Usman Abubakar Tasiu, said the disease has also spread to other areas of Kiru Local Government, including Kwanar Dangora, Dangora, and Yelwa. He called for the establishment of an emergency committee to coordinate the fight against the outbreak in Rano, Tudun Wada, Kibiya, Bunkure, Bebeji, and Kiru.
Additionally, Saleh Ahmad called on the government to step up vaccination campaigns and other preventive measures, while the Majority Leader of the assembly, Lawan Husseini, urged that the state's public health law be invoked to contain the outbreak.
The assembly passed the motion and directed its Health Committee to liaise with the Ministry of Health on steps to enforce the law and provide emergency relief to the affected communities.