Populations of pharyngeal meningococci in Niger.

This study investigated the carriage of Neisseria meningitidis group W135 (NmW135) belonging to sequence type (ST)-2881, ST-11 and NmA ST-7, as these three lineages have been responsible for sporadic cases in 2003 in Niamey (Niger). ST-7 and ST-11 were also the two genotypes involved in recent outbreaks in the African meningitis belt. Among the 97 Nm isolates obtained from 287 schoolchildren swabbed three times, 1 was identified as NmA, 34 as NmW135, 8 as NmY and 54 were non-groupable (NG).