Name: Neisseria meningitidis (Albrecht and Ghon 1901) Murray 1929 (Approved Lists 1980)

Category: Species

Proposed as: comb. nov.

Basonym: "Micrococcus meningitidis" Albrecht and Ghon 1901

Etymology: Gr. fem. n. mêninx (gen. mêningos), meninges, membrane covering the brain; N.L. fem. n. suff. -itis, suffix used for inflammation; N.L. gen. fem. n. meningitidis, of inflammation of the meninges, of meningitis

Gender: feminine

Type strain: ATCC 13077; CCUG 3269; CIP 73.10; DSM 10036; NCTC 10025; Sara E. Branham M1027

See detailed strain information at

Conduct genome-based taxonomy at

16S rRNA gene: JN175351 Analyse FASTA

Effective publication: Murray EGD. The meningococcus. Medical Research Council (Great Britain) Special Report Series 1929; 124:7-142.

IJSEM list: Skerman VBD, McGowan V, Sneath PHA. Approved lists of bacterial names. Int J Syst Bacteriol 1980; 30:225-420.

Nomenclatural status: validly published under the ICNP

Taxonomic status: correct name

Risk group: 2

• Synonyms:

  • Name	Kind
    "Micrococcus meningitidis" Albrecht and Ghon 1901	homotypic synonym, not validly published, basonym of name in Approved Lists

• Notes:
  • 🧬 The phylogenomic assignment score of this taxon is 0.16158 (N = 7).
  • 😷 The risk group for Belgium has been imported on 2024-02-05. The full classification is: risk group = 2, note = "human pathogen". — The risk group for Canada has been imported on 2024-02-27. The full classification is: risk group = 2, note = "Animal classification RG: 1 - Security sensitive biological agent: No - Terrestrial animal pathogen under Canadian Food Inspection Agency authority: No - Containment level: Containment Level 2". — The risk group for Swiss Confederation has been imported on 2024-02-01. The full classification is: risk group = 2. — The risk group for Germany has been imported on 2023-10-29. The full classification is: risk group = 2, note = "V". — The risk group for United Kingdom has been imported on 2024-01-31. The full classification is: risk group = 2, note = "Vaccine available". — The risk group for United States has been imported on 2024-02-09. The full classification is: risk group = 2.
  • 🎓 Name mentioned 8866 times in PubMed until 2024-03-28.
  • 🧍 According to Bartlett et al. (2022), this species is an established human pathogen. Publication: Bartlett A, Padfield D, Lear L, Bendall R, Vos M. A comprehensive list of bacterial pathogens infecting humans. Microbiology 2022; 168:0.
  • 🧍 This name was treated in Judicial Opinion 35. Publication: Judicial Commission. Judicial Opinion No. 35. Int J Syst Bacteriol 1970; 20:13-14.

Parent taxon: Neisseria Trevisan 1885 (Approved Lists 1980)

Assigned by: Murray EGD. The meningococcus. Medical Research Council (Great Britain) Special Report Series 1929; 124:7-142.

Linking: To permanently link to this page, use https://lpsn.dsmz.de/species/neisseria-meningitidisCopy to clipboardLink copied to clipboard

Record number: 778634