Emergence of new virulent Neisseria meningitidis serogroup C sequence type 11 isolates in France.

In France, there have been variations in the incidence of invasive meningococcal infection due to serogroup C isolates. Infection peaks were observed in 1992 and 2003 that involved isolates of phenotypes C:2a:P1.5,2 and/or C:2a:P1.5, which belong to the sequence type 11 (ST-11) clonal complex. We report an emergence of isolates belonging to the ST-11 clonal complex since 2003. These isolates displayed a new phenotype, C:2a:P1.7,1, caused infections that occurred as clusters, and were associated with increased infection severity and high virulence in mice. These isolates may be responsible for a peak in the incidence of serogroup C meningococcal infection in France, for which there is no routine vaccination to date.