SPORADIC household clusters of meningitis could appear over the next four weeks in other parts of Britain linked to people travelling away from Kent, a health leader said today.

Kent County Council’s director of public health Dr Anjan Ghosh told a briefing three scenarios were being looked at over the next four weeks.

The most likely is that students who have travelled away from Kent will “incubate” the bug and there could be “household” cases elsewhere, he said.

However, he said these would be “containable” and urged people to carry on with their lives.

The other two scenarios are that the outbreak remains contained in Kent or the “worst-case scenario,” which would result in another cluster outside of the county, but he added this is “highly unlikely.”

His warning comes as the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) said the number of cases linked to the outbreak has reached 29, up from 27 previously.

Some 18 cases have been confirmed, alongside a further 11 “probable cases” — all with links to Kent, the UKHSA said.