Neisseria meningitidis serogroup W, Burkina Faso, 2012

In 2010, Burkina Faso became the first country to introduce meningococcal serogroup A conjugate vaccine (PsA-TT). During 2012, Burkina Faso reported increases in Neisseria meningitidis serogroup W, raising questions about whether these cases were a natural increase in disease or resulted from serogroup replacement after PsA-TT introduction. We analyzed national surveillance data to describe the epidemiology of serogroup W and genotyped 61 serogroup W isolates. In 2012, a total of 5,807 meningitis cases were reported through enhanced surveillance, of which 2,353 (41%) were laboratory confirmed. The predominant organism identified was N. meningitidis serogroup W (62%), and all serogroup W isolates characterized belonged to clonal complex 11. Although additional years of data are needed before we can understand the epidemiology of serogroup W after PsA-TT introduction, these data suggest that serogroup W will remain a major cause of sporadic disease and has epidemic potential, underscoring the need to maintain high-quality case-based meningitis surveillance after PsA-TT introduction.