M. Maiden

Emergence of short-lived meningococci causing focal epidemics can be associated with gene transfer from carriage-associated Neisseria

In March 2026, an unusually large outbreak of invasive meningococcal disease (IMD) in Kent, UK, was linked to attendance at one nightclub over a single weekend. The outbreak organism was a Neisseria meningitidis variant belonging to the longstanding hyperinvasive genotype, cc41/44. Using genome analysis of six isolates...