An invasive meningococcal disease – which can be deadly to infected people – is on the rise, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) warned.

In an alert issued on Thursday, the CDC warned that there were 422 cases of the disease reported in the US last year, the highest annual number of cases reported since 2014.

The disease, which stems from the bacterium Neisseria meningitidis, is a rare but severe illness with a fatality rate of 10-15%, even with appropriate antibiotic treatment, according to the CDC.