Diphtheria in Salé: Two Children Die, 40 Vaccinated
Two unvaccinated children have died of diphtheria in the Al Ayayda prefecture of Salé, Morocco's first recorded cases since 1992. More than 40 of their contacts have been vaccinated and given preventive treatment.
The Al Ayayda prefecture in Salé has recorded the deaths of two children from diphtheria, after they were infected in the Sidi Abdallah neighborhood, according to sources close to the case cited by Hespress. The two children, from the same family, had not received the vaccine against the disease. Health authorities say the situation is "under control": more than 40 people who had contact with the two children have been identified, vaccinated and given preventive treatment.
Emergency health measures in Al Ayayda
As soon as the two deaths were recorded, health authorities dispatched medical teams to the area to trace the children's contacts. Suspected cases were referred to hospital for laboratory testing, which confirmed infection in several of them; those cases received appropriate treatment and no further deaths were recorded. Two facilities were designated for isolation and monitoring: the Moulay Abdallah regional hospital in Salé and the proximity hospital in the Taabriket neighborhood, while preventive measures were extended to the whole neighborhood.
The return of a disease absent since 1992
The Salé case comes after diphtheria resurfaced in Morocco in 2026, for the first time since the country stopped recording any cases in 1992. Two family clusters had already been identified in the Souss-Massa region in late September, in Idaouanane (Agadir) and Chtouka Aït Baha, all involving children who were unvaccinated or had not completed their doses. The Ministry of Health and Social Protection has warned about the disease's return in several countries worldwide, amid declining vaccination rates and misinformation about vaccines, once again putting children's health in Morocco at risk.
Vaccination as the first line of defence
Morocco's national immunization program includes three primary doses against diphtheria at 2, 3 and 4 months, followed by booster doses at 18 months and 5 years. Health authorities are urging families to make sure all doses are administered on schedule, especially after the two deaths recorded in Salé involved children who had not received a single dose of the vaccine.