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To evaluate the prevalence of carriers of Neisseria meningitidis and circulating serogroups, 253 African refugee residents in the Asylum Seeker Center of Bari, Italy, were enrolled. Thirteen subjects (5.1%) were identified as carriers of meningococci. Six (46.1%) strains were autoagglutinable, four (30.8%) belonged to serogroup W135, and three (23.1%) to serogroup Y. N eisseria meningitidis, an obligate pathogen ofhumans, normally colonizes the mucosa of the upper respiratory tract without causing invasive disease, a phenomenon known as carriage.1 Up to 5 % to 10 % of the general population may be carriers of N. meningitidis.2 In Europe and North America cases of meningo-coccal disease usually occur sporadically.2 Currently, epidemic disease appears restricted to countries of sub-Saharan Africa, in the so-called meningitis belt, which extends from Ethiopia in the East to Senegal in the West. Meningococci are classified into serogroups on th