Related Experiment Video
Updated: Dec 16, 2025
Inducing Meningococcal Meningitis Serogroup C in Mice via Intracisternal Delivery
Published on: November 5, 2019
The global meningitis genome partnership
Elizabeth Rodgers1, Stephen D Bentley2, Ray Borrow3
1Meningitis Research Foundation, Newminster House, 27-29 Newminster House, Baldwin Street, Bristol BS1 1LT, UK.
Abstract:
Genomic surveillance of bacterial meningitis pathogens is essential for effective disease control globally, enabling identification of emerging and expanding strains and consequent public health interventions. While there has been a rise in the use of whole genome sequencing, this has been driven predominately by a subset of countries with adequate capacity and resources. Global capacity to participate in surveillance needs to be expanded, particularly in low and middle-income countries with high disease burdens. In light of this, the WHO-led collaboration, Defeating Meningitis by 2030 Global Roadmap, has called for the establishment of a Global Meningitis Genome Partnership that links resources for: N. meningitidis (Nm), S. pneumoniae (Sp), H. influenzae (Hi) and S. agalactiae (Sa) to improve worldwide co-ordination of strain identification and tracking. Existing platforms containing relevant genomes include: PubMLST: Nm (31,622), Sp (15,132), Hi (1935), Sa (9026); The Wellcome Sanger Institute: Nm (13,711), Sp (> 24,000), Sa (6200), Hi (1738); and BMGAP: Nm (8785), Hi (2030). A steering group is being established to coordinate the initiative and encourage high-quality data curation. Next steps include: developing guidelines on open-access sharing of genomic data; defining a core set of metadata; and facilitating development of user-friendly interfaces that represent publicly available data.
Insights
Genomic surveillance of bacterial meningitis pathogens like Neisseria meningitidis and Streptococcus pneumoniae is crucial. Expanding global capacity, especially in low-income nations, is vital for tracking and controlling these diseases effectively.
Area of Science:
- Microbiology
- Genomics
- Public Health
Background:
- Genomic surveillance of bacterial meningitis pathogens is critical for global disease control.
- Whole genome sequencing use is limited by country capacity and resources, particularly in high-burden low and middle-income countries.
- The Defeating Meningitis by 2030 Global Roadmap emphasizes expanding global surveillance capacity.
Purpose of the Study:
- To establish a Global Meningitis Genome Partnership to coordinate genomic surveillance of key bacterial meningitis pathogens.
- To link resources for tracking Neisseria meningitidis (Nm), Streptococcus pneumoniae (Sp), Haemophilus influenzae (Hi), and Streptococcus agalactiae (Sa).
- To improve worldwide coordination of strain identification and tracking for meningitis pathogens.
Main Methods:
- Leveraging existing genomic databases such as PubMLST, The Wellcome Sanger Institute, and BMGAP.
- Establishing a steering group to coordinate the initiative and ensure high-quality data curation.
- Developing guidelines for open-access genomic data sharing and defining core metadata.
Main Results:
- Multiple platforms (PubMLST, Wellcome Sanger Institute, BMGAP) host significant numbers of relevant bacterial genomes.
- A steering group is being formed to manage the Global Meningitis Genome Partnership.
- Guidelines for data sharing, metadata, and user-friendly interfaces are planned.
Conclusions:
- A coordinated global effort is needed to enhance genomic surveillance of bacterial meningitis.
- The Global Meningitis Genome Partnership aims to bridge resource gaps and improve global tracking of meningitis pathogens.
- Future work will focus on data standardization, open access, and accessible data representation.
More Related Videos
Related Concept Videos
01:29Modern Molecular Taxonomy
01:11Genome-wide Association Studies-GWAS
GWAS does not require the identification of the target gene involved in...