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Abstract

England is experiencing an increase in serogroup W invasive meningococcal disease (IMD) caused by ‘strain A’ of the meningococcal sequence type 11 clonal complex (MenW:cc11) Hajj strain sublineage. Travel-associated and non-travel-associated meningococci from four strain A substrains (A1–A4) accounted for 32 of 59 MenW IMD cases between January 2024 and June 2025, 14 in people returning from Saudi Arabia or household contacts; eight of 14 linked to Umrah pilgrimage. Communications about MenACWY vaccination for pilgrims year-round should be reinforced.

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/content/10.2807/1560-7917.ES.2025.30.31.2500509
2025-08-07
2025-08-30
/content/10.2807/1560-7917.ES.2025.30.31.2500509
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Increase in serogroup W invasive meningococcal disease in England associated with pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia, January 2024 to June 2025
<p class="citation"> <span>Citation style for this article:</span> <span class="meta-value authors"> <a href="/search?value1=Helen+Campbell&option1=author&noRedirect=true" class="nonDisambigAuthorLink">Campbell Helen</a>, <a href="/search?value1=Jay+Lucidarme&option1=author&noRedirect=true" class="nonDisambigAuthorLink">Lucidarme Jay</a>, <a href="/search?value1=Stephen+A+Clark&option1=author&noRedirect=true" class="nonDisambigAuthorLink">Clark Stephen A</a>, <a href="/search?value1=Emma+J+Heymer&option1=author&noRedirect=true" class="nonDisambigAuthorLink">Heymer Emma J</a>, <a href="/search?value1=Sonia+Ribeiro&option1=author&noRedirect=true" class="nonDisambigAuthorLink">Ribeiro Sonia</a>, <a href="/search?value1=Xilian+Bai&option1=author&noRedirect=true" class="nonDisambigAuthorLink">Bai Xilian</a>, <a href="/search?value1=Shazaad+Ahmad&option1=author&noRedirect=true" class="nonDisambigAuthorLink">Ahmad Shazaad</a>, <a href="/search?value1=Mary+E+Ramsay&option1=author&noRedirect=true" class="nonDisambigAuthorLink">Ramsay Mary E</a>, <a href="/search?value1=Ray+Borrow&option1=author&noRedirect=true" class="nonDisambigAuthorLink">Borrow Ray</a>, <a href="/search?value1=Shamez+N+Ladhani&option1=author&noRedirect=true" class="nonDisambigAuthorLink">Ladhani Shamez N</a></span>. Increase in serogroup W invasive meningococcal disease in England associated with pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia, January 2024 to June 2025. <a href="/content/ecdc">Euro Surveill.</a> 2025;30(31):pii=2500509. <a href="https://doi.org/10.2807/1560-7917.ES.2025.30.31.2500509" title="doi link" target="_blank">https://doi.org/10.2807/1560-7917.ES.2025.30.31.2500509</a> <span class="ES_Article_citation"> <span class="generated">Received</span>: 11 Jul 2025;&nbsp;&nbsp; <span class="generated">Accepted</span>: 04 Aug 2025 </span> </p>
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