Cases of MenB linked to Canterbury nightclub have risen to 20, with two deaths, as experts warn of ‘explosive’ outbreak. Meningitis infections in a county in the south-east of England continue to increase, with five new cases confirmed on Wednesday in what experts have said is one of the fastest-growing outbreaks of the disease they have seen in the UK.
What happened and where?
On 15 March, the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), a public health body, issued a public health alert confirming two people had died during an outbreak of meningitis.
It had occurred in and around Canterbury, a city of about 60,000 people in the county of Kent, near London.
Health officials later confirmed the strain involved was meningitis B (MenB).