Short communication Neisseria meningitidis serogroup W135 in Portugal: Presence of the ST-11/ET-37 clonal complex Se ´rogroupe W135 de Neisseria meningitidis au Portugal : pre ´sence du complexe clonal ST-11/ET-37 E. Ferreira a , R. Dias a , D. Giorgini b , M. Caniça a, * , M.-K. Taha b a Antibiotic Resistance Unit, Centre of Bacteriology, National Institute of Health Dr. Ricardo Jorge, Avenida Padre Cruz, 1649-016, Lisbon, Portugal b Unité des Neisseria et Centre National de Référence des Méningocoques, Institut Pasteur, 28, rue du Docteur-Roux, 75724 Paris, France Received 23 May 2007; accepted 12 October 2007 Available online 7 January 2008 Abstract Invasive serogroup W135 Neisseria meningitidis strains were isolated in Portugal between 1995 and 2002. Nine of 12 isolates showed ‘‘Hajj- 2000’’-associated phenotypes and belonged to the ST-11/ET-37 clonal complex. Pulsed-field gel electrophoresis clustered the ST-11/ET-37 isolates together with the ‘‘Hajj-2000’’ strain although the profiles were distinguishable. # 2007 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved. Résumé Entre 1995 et 2002 ont été isolées des souches de Neisseria meningitidis du sérogroupe W135 au Portugal. Neuf des 12 souches ont montré un phénotype ayant rapport avec la souche « Hajj-2000 » et appartiennent au complexe clonal ST-11/ET-37. L’électrophorèse en champ pulsé a classé les souches ST-11/ET-37 et la souche « Hajj-2000 » dans le même cluster, bien que les profils soient distincts. # 2007 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved. Keywords: Neisseria meningitidis; Serogroup W135; Typing Mots clés : Neisseria meningitidis ; Sérogroupe W135 ; Typage Neisseria meningitidis infections are under epidemiological surveillance worldwide because of the potential threat of epidemics. N. meningitidis strains are genetically diverse due to frequent genetic exchange and consequently new variants continually emerge [1]. Strains of N. meningitidis serogroup W135 of the ST-11/ET-37 clonal complex provoked an outbreak in the year 2000 among Hajj pilgrims returning from Saudi Arabia and their household contacts [2]. The presence of such strains was subsequently reported worldwide [3]. No data are available on the typing of serogroup W135 isolates from Portugal. However, we have reported that 2.6% of culture confirmed cases in Portugal during 2000–2001 were of serogroup W135. Serogroups B and C accounted for 47.4% and 50% during the same period [4]. We aimed in this report to analyze the phenotypes and genotypes of W135 invasive isolates from Portugal and analyze their relationships to the ‘‘Hajj 2000’’ strain. We, therefore, studied all the invasive isolates (n = 12) of N. meningitidis serogroup W135 isolated from blood or cere- brospinal fluid (CSF) in Portugal between 1995 and 2002 from patients with invasive meningococcal disease (septicemia and/ or meningitis). These isolates were provided by various hospitals in Portugal to the Antibiotic Resistance Unit at National Institute of Health in Lisbon, as part of a program of http://france.elsevier.com/direct/PATBIO/ Disponible en ligne sur www.sciencedirect.com Pathologie Biologie 56 (2008) 94–96 * Corresponding author. E-mail address: manuela.canica@insa.min-saude.pt (M. Caniça). 0369-8114/$ – see front matter # 2007 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.patbio.2007.10.005