Rapid determination of outbreak-related strains of Neisseria meningitidis by repetitive element-based polymerase chain reaction genotyping.

Outbreaks of invasive disease caused by Neisseria meningitidis have increased in the United States in the 1990s. Repetitive element-based polymerase chain reaction (rep-PCR), a recently developed genotyping method, was used to evaluate a group of 8 outbreak-related and 35 other meningococcal isolates previously typed by multilocus enzyme electrophoresis (MLEE). All were serogroup B or C. Sets of genotypes were generated using primers based on either of two different repetitive sequences. Genotype sets were analyzed in a blinded fashion. Each set correctly identified outbreak-related isolates. Among the other 35 isolates, rep-PCR delineated 14 and 13 strains, respectively, in the two sets of genotypes. Seventeen electrophoretic types had been delineated by MLEE. Rep-PCR holds promise as a rapid, genome-based typing method for delineation of apparent outbreaks of meningococcal disease.