A meningococcal disease outbreak is continuing to spread in southeastern England, according to local health officials.
So far, at least 27 confirmed or probable cases have been reported, including cases among students at universities, and at least two people have died, according to the U.K. Health Security Agency (UKHSA).
Health Secretary Wes Streeting warned on Thursday that the number of cases could “increase further in the coming days” due to the disease’s incubation period, or the period of time between exposure and the start of symptoms.
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“This outbreak is unusually large,” Dr. Shira Doron, chief infection control officer at Tufts Medicine in Burlington, Massachusetts, told ABC News. “Typically, when we do see meningitis, it’s a much smaller number of cases, but it’s certainly not like COVID in the sense that we don’t see it spreading across the whole country and the whole world.”
Here’s what you need to know about meningococcal disease including what it is, how it spreads and the best prevention methods.
Carlos Jasso/AFP via Getty Images – PHOTO: Students wearing face masks queue up to get vaccinated at the University of Kent in Canterbury, south-east England on March 18, 2026, following an outbreak of meningitis.
What is meningococcal disease?
Meningococcal disease is a rare illness caused by the bacterium Neisseria meningitidis, often referred to as meningococcus, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The bacteria is spread by coming into contact with an infected person’s saliva or spit, such as through coughing, kissing, sharing items or sneezing near someone’s face. Sometimes the bacteria also spreads through prolonged general contact with an infected person, the CDC says.
“This is not the sort of thing that spreads like wildfire through a population,” Dr. William Schaffner, a professor of preventive medicine at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, told ABC News. “It usually spreads within a defined population of people who have close contact and the students and other people associated with that university are the ones at greatest risk.”
Meningitis and meningococcal disease are not the same thing. Meningitis doesn’t always mean meningococcal disease and vice versa, according to the CDC.
Meningitis and bloodstream infections are the two most common types of meningococcal infections, the CDC says.
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The former is caused by bacteria that infects the protective lining of the brain and spinal cord, which can lead to inflammation. The latter is caused when bacteria enters the blood and damage the walls of the blood vessels, leading to bleeding in the skin and organs.
These are all different from viral meningitis, which is the most common form of meningitis — and usually mild — inflammation of tissue surrounding the brain and spinal cord membranes, and caused by a virus, the CDC says. There are many viruses that can cause meningitis, while most people recover without treatment, this type of infection can be very serious.
What are the symptoms?
For meningococcal meningitis, the most common symptoms include headache, fever and a stiff neck. Additional symptoms include confusion, nausea, vomiting and sensitivity to light.
If the disease gets into the bloodstream, patients may experience a dark purple rash.
Doron said it’s easy for patients to confuse these symptoms for those of another illness or bacterial infection.
“Then you start to have the signs and symptoms of sepsis and meningitis later and, by the time you have those symptoms, it can be very hard to control the infection,” she said.
Carlos Jasso/AFP via Getty Images – PHOTO: Students wearing face masks queue up to get vaccinated at the University of Kent in Canterbury, south-east England on March 18, 2026, following an outbreak of meningitis.
One in five survivors of meningococcal meningitis have long-term disabilities, including nervous system issues, deafness, brain damage and loss of limbs, according to the CDC.
“Meningococcus, particularly if it’s in your bloodstream, can result in an inflammation of blood vessels, particularly the smaller blood vessels that go to your hands and your feet, the tips of your nose, the tip of your ears,” Schaffner said.
“Those blood vessels can actually have clots in them so the blood can’t get to the peripheral tissues,” he continued. “So, you can get gangrene of those tissues … they can require amputations. There’s no doubt that from beginning to end, this is a very, very serious disease.”
The CDC says that 10 to 15 in 100 people with meningococcal disease will die.
What treatments are available?
Because meningococcal disease can be difficult to diagnose, health care providers who suspect the illness will collect samples of blood or cerebrospinal fluid, which surrounds the spinal cord.
Patients with meningococcal disease should receive antibiotics right away to reduce the risk of death, according to the CDC.
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Some patients with complications may need additional treatments such as medications to lower blood pressure, breathing support, operation to remove dead tissue or wound care for damaged skin, the federal health agency says.
How to prevent meningococcal disease
Close contacts of a patient with meningococcal disease should receive antibiotics to prevent them from getting sick, doctors said.
However, the best way to prevent meningococcal disease is to get vaccinated, according to the CDC.
There are currently three types of meningococcal vaccines available in the U.S.: MenACWY, MenB and MenABCWY.
Dan Kitwood/Getty Images – PHOTO: A students receives the Meningitis B vaccine in the sports hall on the University of Kent campus on March 19, 2026 in Canterbury, England.
Currently, a two-dose series of MenACWY is recommended for ages 11 and 12 with a booster 16 years
Meanwhile, MenB is recommended after a discussion between parents and pediatricians. It is recommended as a two-dose series for healthy adolescents and young adults between ages 16 and 23 give six months apart and a three-dose series for high-risk children aged 10 and older given over the course of six months.
In the U.K., the MenB vaccine is recommended for babies at 8 weeks old followed by a second dose at 12 weeks old and a booster at 1 year old. The MenACWY vaccine is offered to teenagers at age 14 and people up to age 25 who have never had a vaccine containing MenC.
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How did the outbreak start?
UKHSA first notified the public about the outbreak on Sunday, noting that 13 cases of invasive meningococcal disease had been identified in the Canterbury area of Kent and that two deaths had been recorded.
Cases have since been identified among students at four schools in Kent, as well as one student at a higher education institution in London, who is directly linked to the outbreak, according to the agency.
Of the 27 reported cases, 15 have been confirmed and 12 are suspected. Of the 15 confirmed cases, nine are MenB.
“A university, such as the one in Kent, is actually an ideal circumstance for this bug to spread among young adults who are susceptible to the disease because students live together, they eat together, they sleep in dormitories frequently, they engage in extracurricular activities, they have romantic relationships, they go out to bars together,” Schaffner said.
Dan Kitwood/Getty Images – PHOTO: A students receives the Meningitis B vaccine in the sports hall on the University of Kent campus on March 19, 2026 in Canterbury, England.
UKHSA is giving preventive antibiotic treatment to University of Kent students and anyone who visited Club Chemistry in Canterbury between March 5 and March 7 as well as close contacts of those with confirmed or suspected meningococcal disease.
Additionally, UKHSA is also rolling out a targeted MenB vaccination program, including for students and staff who live in or work in the halls at the University of Kent Canterbury Campus.
UKHSA said vaccination will be expanded as required as the agency continues to assess if there is a risk to ongoing risk to other population groups.
