Surveillance network for Invasive Neisseria Meningitidis in Europe 2002

The surveillance network for invasive meningococcal disease in Europe began in 1999 as part of the European Union Invasive Bacterial Infections Surveillance (EU-IBIS) project, building upon existing surveillance networks for bacterial meningitis in Europe. The aims of the network are to improve the epidemiological information on meningococcal disease in Europe, to improve the laboratory capacity to accurately characterise isolates of N. meningitidis and to form a focus for wider collaboration with non-EU countries.