Health bosses can't confirm meningitis outbreak contained

Health bosses cannot yet confirm whether a deadly meningitis outbreak has been contained, Kent's director of public health has said.

An urgent public health alert was issued urging health workers to look out for signs of infection after 20 suspected cases were investigated by the UK Health Security Agency, including two people who had died.

A vaccination programme targeting about 5,000 students began at the University of Kent, following an outbreak thought to have originated at a Canterbury nightclub.

When asked whether the outbreak had been contained, Dr Anjan Ghosh, of Kent County Council, told BBC Radio 4's Today programme they were "not in a position yet to say that definitively".

He added: "If you see the daily reporting that's going on, there are more and more cases being reported, but these cases all relate more or less to that same period of time when the initial exposure happened.

"We are looking at what's called secondary transmission, so that's a case that's then transmitted to another couple of people. We need to rule that out before we can say it's definitely contained."

Health chiefs have described the "explosive nature" of the outbreak as unprecedented.

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Source: BBC News, 18 March 2026