Pulsed-field gel electrophoresis was used to analyze the DNA of 67 Neisseria meningitidis A strains from five African outbreaks occurring between 1988 and 1996. Endonuclease Bg/II was used to cut chromosomal DNA, generating 19 analyzable fragments. This technique allowed comparison of clonal relationships between outbreak strains and revealed that the same pulsotype was responsible for the outbreaks. This pulsotype is closely related to strain B54, subgroup III reference strain, Finland, 1975, showing only two fragment differences.
A severe epidemic of serogroup A meningococcus meningitis occurred in the northwest Central African Republic from January to March 1992. Strains from 24 patients were characterized using serotyping, testing of susceptibility to antibiotics, and multilocus enzyme electrophoresis. In 23 of the 24 patients the causal strain was found to be 4:P1.9/clone III-1. These results indicate that such strains continue to spread in Africa and have taken hold in areas outside the "meningitis belt." This may be a consequence of changing climatic conditions.
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