the bacterium Neisseria meningitidis, which causes meningococcal meningitis in humans, who are the only natural hosts in which it causes disease. The bacteria are spherical, ranging in diameter from 0.6 to 1.0 μm (micrometre; 1 μm = 10^-6 metre); they frequently occur in pairs, with adjacent sides flattened. They are strongly gram-negative. These bacteria enter the nasopharynx; meningococcal infections in the nasopharynx may cause no symptoms—up to 30 percent of the population may harbour them between epidemics—or may enter the bloodstream and produce the symptoms of meningitis.