Measles death toll hits 153 in 11 months
The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention has said that a total of 19,213 confirmed cases of measles have been recorded out of 26,866 suspected cases across 507 Local Government Areas in the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory.
The NCDC also said the country has recorded 153 deaths from the infectious disease as of November 2025.
The centre disclosed this in its measles situation report made available to journalists in Abuja on Tuesday.
Measles is an acute, highly infectious viral disease that causes fever, red rash, cough, and red eyes.
It is transmitted through coughing and sneezing, contact with respiratory secretions or aerosols, or close personal contact.
The virus can remain contagious in the air or on surfaces for up to two hours.
The period of greatest infectiousness occurs four days before the onset of rash and four days after it appears.
The report stated, “In November 2025, Delta (13), Kwara (six), Bayelsa (six), Jigawa (six), and Akwa Ibom (five) accounted for 50.7 per cent of the 71 suspected cases reported. Of the suspected cases reported, 1 (1.41 per cent) was confirmed (1 lab-confirmed; 0 epi-linked; 0 clinically compatible), 7 (9.86 per cent) were discarded, and 63 (88.73 per cent) were pending.
“A total of 47 LGAs across 20 states reported at least one suspected case. Zero deaths were recorded from confirmed cases.”
The report noted that from January to November 2025, Borno (7,968), Zamfara (4,779), Yobe (2,076), Bauchi (1,574), and Kebbi (1,357) accounted for 66.10 per cent of the 26,866 suspected cases reported.
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“Of the suspected cases reported, 19,213 (71.51 per cent) were confirmed (2,791 lab-confirmed, 2,013 epi-linked, and 14,409 clinically compatible), 6,440 (23.78 per cent) were discarded, and 1,213 (3.38 per cent) were pending classification.
“The age group 9–59 months accounted for 9,399 (48.92 per cent) of all confirmed cases. A total of 153 deaths (CFR = 0.8 per cent) were recorded among confirmed cases.
“Up to 14,801 (77.04 per cent) of the 19,213 confirmed cases did not receive any dose of the measles vaccine (‘zero dose’),” it added.
According to the report, a total of 188 LGAs across 27 states recorded measles outbreaks from January to November 2025.
“In November, only one LGA (Eti-Osa in Lagos State) had an ongoing measles outbreak.
“No LGA reported a new outbreak in November. Meanwhile, 187 LGAs across 27 states had ended their outbreaks as of the end of November 2025,” it added.
On October 6, the First Lady, Senator Oluremi Tinubu, launched the Measles-Rubella vaccine introduction and integrated campaign.
Tinubu said the campaign is expected to reach approximately 106 million children aged nine months to under 15 years in two phases.
She described the integrated campaign as the largest health initiative in Africa’s history, aimed at immunising millions of children and adolescents against measles, rubella, and other vaccine-preventable diseases.
The campaign also integrates vaccination efforts against polio and the rollout of the HPV vaccine among adolescent girls.
