Meningococcal Photos

Photos of a Bacterium That Can Cause the Disease

Click the image to view larger image.

This micrograph depicts the presence of aerobic Gram-negative Neisseria meningitidis diplococcal bacteria; Mag. 1150X (Meningococcal disease is an infection caused by a bacterium called N. meningitidis or the meningococcus. The meningococcus lives in the throat of 5-10% of healthy people. Rarely, it can cause serious illness such as meningitis or blood infection).

A photomicrograph of Neisseria meningitidis recovered from the urethra of an asymptomatic male; Magnified 1125X (N. meningitidis is responsible for causing “meningococcal” meningitis. This bacterium is not normal flora, but a pathogenic organism that may be present in a large percentage of the population without causing disease).

Images of People Affected by the Disease

4 month old female with gangrene of hands and lower extremities due to meningococcemia.

4 month old female with gangrene of hands due to meningococcemia.

Additional Images & Regulations

This symbol means you are leaving the CDC.gov Web site. For more information, please see CDC's Exit Notification and Disclaimer policy.

File Formats: All viewers, players, and plug-ins used on this site can be downloaded from the file formats page. (For example: Adobe Acrobat Reader for pdf files, Windows Media Player for audio and video files, PowerPoint Viewer for presentation slides, etc.)

Copyrighted images: Images on this website which are copyrighted were used with permission of the copyright holder and are not in the public domain. CDC has licensed these images for use in the materials provided on this website, and the materials in the form presented on this website may be used without seeking further permission. Any other use of copyrighted images requires permission from the copyright holder.