%0 Journal Article %J Microbes Infect %D 2011 %T Detection of a geographical and endemic cluster of hyper-invasive meningococcal strains. %A Sophie Bertrand %A Van Meervenne, Eva %A De Baere, Thierry %A Vanhoof, Raymond %A J-M Collard %A Ruckly, Corinne %A Taha, Muhamed %A Carion, Françoise %K ADOLESCENT %K Adult %K Aged %K Belgium %K Child, Preschool %K Cluster Analysis %K Disease Outbreaks %K DNA, Bacterial %K Electrophoresis, Gel, Pulsed-Field %K Evolution, Molecular %K Female %K Genome, Bacterial %K Geography %K Humans %K Infant %K Male %K Meningococcal Infections %K Microbial Sensitivity Tests %K middle aged %K Multilocus Sequence Typing %K Neisseria meningitidis, Serogroup B %K Retrospective Studies %K Serotyping %K Young adult %X

From 2006 to December 2009, 45 out of the 513 strains isolated from patients with invasive meningococcal disease in Belgium, were identified as Neisseria meningitidis serogroup B, non-serotypeable, subtype P1.14 (B:NT:P1.14). Most cases were geographically clustered in the northern part of the country. Multilocus Sequence Typing and antigen gene sequencing combined with Pulsed-Field Gel electrophoresis were used to investigate this cluster. Molecular typing showed that 39 out of these 45 N. meningitidis strains belonged to the clonal complex cc-269. The presence of the same PorA Variable Regions (VR1-VR2: 22, 14), the FetA allele (F5-1) and the highly similar Pulsed-Field Gel Electrophoresis profiles, supported genetic relatedness for 38 out of these 39 isolates. Retrospective analysis of B:NT:P1.22,14 isolates from 1999 onwards suggested that these strains belonging to the cc-269 complex, first emerged in the Belgian province of West-Flanders in 2004. This study showed that the combination of molecular tools with classical methods enabled reliable outbreak detection as well as a cluster identification.

%B Microbes Infect %V 13 %P 684-90 %8 2011 Jul %G eng %N 7 %1 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21376133?dopt=Abstract %R 10.1016/j.micinf.2011.02.006