Neisseria meningitidis Genome sequencing. Neisseria meningitidis

During the 2007-2008 winter, a cluster of meningococcal disease, characterized by a high fatality rate, occurred in north-eastern Italy. Whole genome sequencing of two N. meningitidis isolates, the index case and the last case of the outbreak, was performed by 454 pyrosequencing in order to confirm their relatedness and to detect genetic differences between the two strains that could have occurred during the short period of the outbreak. This is the index case of the outbreak.