Abstract
Invasive meningococcal diseases are rarely caused by capsule null locus (cnl) strains, which are unencapsulated owing to an absence of capsule synthesis genes. Only a few cases of cnl meningococcemia in severely immunocompromised patients have been reported. Here, we describe and discuss the first case of invasive disease in an immunocompetent patient due to a cnl strain of Neisseria meningitidis in China. We characterize this strain and discuss the special ST-198 complex of cnl.
Declaration of interest: The authors report no conflicts of interest. The study received no financial support. This work was supported by grants from the National Key Program for Infectious Disease of China [grant no. 2013ZX10004221] and the National Basic Research Program of China [973 Program, grant no. 2011CB504900].