The Health Protection Agency HPA says it had not detected any other individual who had contracted the highly contagious and dangerous Meningococcal disease after a young man died from the disease earlier this month.

The 24-year-old died in the Maldives, having fallen ill after a trip to Malaysia recently.

The HPA has conducted contact tracing following the death of the young man. None of the contacts has shown symptoms of the disease. The agency said no other cases have been reported.

The few cases in the country are usually infected from outside the country.

Meningococcal disease is a serious infection caused by the bacteria Neisseria meningitidis, often leading to meningitis (inflammation of the brain and spinal cord) and/or bloodstream infections (septicemia).

It can be deadly, but vaccines can help prevent it