Rapid communications Cluster of invasive Neisseria meningitidis infections on a

We describe a cluster of four cases of invasive menin-gococcal disease that occurred on a cruise ship sailing along the Italian coast in October 2012. All four cases were hospitalised with severe illness and one of them died. This report illustrates the importance of rapid implementation of emergency control measures such as administration of prophylaxis to all crew members and passengers to prevent the spread of the disease in such a close environment. We report a cluster of four cases of meningitis due to infection with serogroup C Neisseria meningitidis ST-11 clonal complex (cc) that occurred on a cruise ship sailing along the Italian coast in October 2012. Meningococcal serogroup C strains, (ST-11 cc) are known to cause inva-sive disease burden worldwide [1,2]. It is also know