U.S. CDC alerts doctors to look out for meningococcal disease tied to travel to Saudi Arabia

Ahead of Hajj, CDC alerts doctors to look out for meningococcal disease tied to travel to Saudi Arabia | CNN The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is urging doctors to be on the lookout for potentially deadly meningococcal disease linked to travel to Saudi Arabia. Jen Christensen CNN

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Since April, there have been 12 confirmed cases of meningococcal disease associated with travel for Umrah, an Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca, the birthplace of the Prophet Muhammad in Saudi Arabia....

Five of the pilgrims who got sick this year live in the United States. France has had four cases, and the United Kingdom has had three. Ten of the people who got sick had been to Mecca, and two had a close association with someone who did.

Meningococcal disease is highly contagious among unvaccinated people. Of the patients whose vaccination status is known, nine were unvaccinated.

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