Emergence and genomic diversification of a virulent serogroup W:ST-2881(CC175) Neisseria meningitidis clone in the African meningitis belt.

ABSTRACT: Countries of the African 'meningitis belt' are susceptible to meningococcal meningitis outbreaks. While in the past major epidemics have been primarily caused by serogroup A meningococci, W strains are currently responsible for most of the cases. After an epidemic in Mecca in 2000, W:ST-11 strains have caused many outbreaks worldwide. An unrelated W:ST-2881 clone was described for the first time in 2002, with the first meningitis cases caused by these bacteria reported in 2003. Here we describe results of a comparative whole-genome analysis of 74 W:ST-2881 strains isolated within the framework of two longitudinal colonization and disease studies conducted in Ghana and Burkina Faso. Genomic data indicate that the W:ST-2881 clone has emerged from Y:ST-175(CC175) bacteria by capsule switching

SUBMITTER: Lamelas A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5610715 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature