One person has died and two more are being treated after an outbreak of meningitis in Berkshire, health officials have said.

It follows a major outbreak in Kent, linked to a Canterbury nightclub, that killed two people and left more than a dozen others needing hospital treatment in March. On Thursday, the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) confirmed new cases had been found in Reading, and that a student had died.

“We understand that many people will be affected by this sad news and would like to offer our condolences to the friends and family of this student,” said Dr Rachel Mearkle, consultant in health protection.

“Students and staff will naturally be feeling worried about the likelihood of further cases. However, meningococcal meningitis requires very close contact to spread and large outbreaks, as we saw in Kent recently, are thankfully rare.

“We are working closely with partners and have provided public health advice and precautionary antibiotic treatment to close contacts of the cases. Meningococcal disease does not spread easily and the risk to the wider public remains low.”

More to follow …