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Meningitis Belt
About Meningitis Belt
The African Meningitis Belt spans approximately 26 countries from Senegal to Ethiopia, home to 450 million people. Epidemic meningococcal meningitis sweeps through the region in annual cycles during the dry season December to June. The disease is caused by Neisseria meningitidis, primarily serogroups A, W, and C. Major epidemics have historically occurred every 5 to 12 years, with attack rates reaching 1,000 per 100,000 population. The largest recorded epidemic in 1996 to 1997 caused over 250,000 cases and 25,000 deaths. The MenAfriVac vaccine, developed by the Meningitis Vaccine Project, targeted serogroup A. Introduced in 2010, MenAfriVac has nearly eliminated serogroup A meningitis from the belt, with hundreds of millions of people vaccinated. However, serogroups W, C, and X continue to cause epidemics. The WHO aims to defeat meningitis by 2030 through vaccination, surveillance, and treatment. The Meningitis Belt represents one of the most distinctive epidemiological patterns in infectious disease, driven by climate, population density, and immunity patterns.
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