About the Authors

Jeni Vuong

Affiliation Meningitis and Vaccine Preventable Diseases Branch, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, United States of America

Jean-Marc Collard

Affiliations Scientific Institute of Public Health, Brussels, Belgium, Centre de Recherche Médicale et Sanitaire, Niamey, Niger

Melissa J. Whaley

Affiliation Meningitis and Vaccine Preventable Diseases Branch, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, United States of America

Issaka Bassira

Affiliation Centre de Recherche Médicale et Sanitaire, Niamey, Niger

Issaka Seidou

Affiliation Centre de Recherche Médicale et Sanitaire, Niamey, Niger

Seydou Diarra

Affiliation Institut National de Recherche en Santé Publique, Bamako, Mali

Rasmata T. Ouédraogo

Affiliation Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Pédiatrique Charles De Gaulle, Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso

Dinanibè Kambiré

Affiliation Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Pédiatrique Charles De Gaulle, Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso

Thomas H. Taylor Jr

Affiliation Meningitis and Vaccine Preventable Diseases Branch, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, United States of America

Claudio Sacchi

Affiliation Instituto Adolfo Lutz, São Paulo, Brazil

Leonard W. Mayer

Affiliation Meningitis and Vaccine Preventable Diseases Branch, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, United States of America

Xin Wang

gqe8@cdc.gov

Affiliation Meningitis and Vaccine Preventable Diseases Branch, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, United States of America

Competing Interests

The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Author Contributions

Conceived and designed the experiments: JV J-MC MJW SD RTO CS LWM XW. Performed the experiments: JV MJW IB IS DK. Analyzed the data: JV MJW THT XW. Contributed reagents/materials/analysis tools: JV J-MC MJW SD RTO CS THT LWM XW. Wrote the paper: JV XW. Assisted with editing, finalizing, & giving critical feedback on the scientific content of the manuscript: JV J-MC MJW IB IS SD RTO DK THT CS LWM XW.