A NEW Foreign Office warning has been issued over travellers returning to the UK and Europe carrying a 'rapidly spreading' disease. Cases of the rare but devastating invasive meningococcal disease have been spotted in Brits returning from Saudi Aradia. The Foreign Office-supported website Travel Health Pro revealed that 14 cases of the sometimes fatal infection have been identified in people coming back from the region.
The rapidly progressing disease was also spotted in travellers returning to Europe and the US from Saudi Arabia , as well as people who'd been in contact with travellers. The disease often progresses rapidly has 8–15 per cent fatality rate - meaning it can kill around in 10 people it infects. Caused by the bacterium Neisseria meningitidis , invasive meningococcal disease can trigger meningitis - an infection of the protective lining around the brain and spine - and septicaemia, also known as blood poisoning.
N. meningitidis often lurks in the back of the throat without making people ill, but the bacterium can occasionally invade the body and cause a severe bacterial infection. Meningococcal meningitis and septicaemia need urgent treatment with antibiotics and rapid admission to hospital so they don't become life-threatening.
As of June 21, four cases of invasive meningococcal disease (IMD) have been reported in France , three in the United Kingdom, five in the United States , one in Norway and one the Netherlands , all among travellers or contacts of travell.