Description of the situation
26 February 1999
Disease Outbreak Reported
An outbreak of meningococcal meningitis has been reported in Guinea-Bissau. The outbreak started early January and has mainly affected the regions Oio, Bafata and Gabu. The causative organism has been identified as Neisseria meningitidis serogroup A.
Since the beginning of 1999 up to 21 February, 139 cases have been notified, of which 36 were fatal. During 1998 Guinea-Bissau reported 112 cases of meningococcal disease, of which 12 died.
The national health authorities and the local representatives of the Executive Group of the International Coordinating Group for the Provision of Meningococcal Meningitis (ICG) are implementing measures to control the outbreak.