Madar (Rabat) - Morocco has recorded around 30 confirmed diphtheria cases in several regions, but they remain isolated and do not amount to an outbreak, Jawad Hammou, head of the infectious diseases division at the Health Ministry's Directorate of Epidemiology and Disease Control, told Hespress on Friday, October 30, 2026.
Confirmed cases were detected in Souss-Massa, Casablanca-Settat and Rabat-Sale-Kenitra, with isolated cases in the Oriental region, following diphtheria-related deaths and suspected cases in the north, where health authorities reported 25 suspected cases in seven provinces and prefectures of the Tangier-Tetouan-Al Hoceima region.
"Not every suspected diphtheria case is a confirmed case," the official said, explaining that diagnosis requires laboratory testing and that the ministry has set up a nationwide protocol covering public and private facilities and military medical services.
He linked the disease's return partly to declining participation in the national childhood immunisation programme, citing COVID-19 disruptions and misinformation on social media, and noted that diphtheria has also reappeared in France, Mauritania, Senegal and Cote d'Ivoire.
In Senegal, authorities reported 422 confirmed cases and 14 deaths in 13 regions. Diphtheria is a potentially fatal bacterial infection of the throat and airways, and vaccination remains the main means of prevention.
