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Family handout
Juliette, 18, was described as "genuinely caring" and a "true friend"
A father says his family is "beyond devastated" after his daughter died of meningitis, as the strain of the disease in an outbreak in Kent is identified.
The family have "no words to express their loss" after Juliette, who was a sixth form pupil at Queen Elizabeth's Grammar School in Faversham, died on Saturday, the father said.
Dr Gayatri Amirthalingam, from the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), said meningitis B (menB) has been identified as the strain behind the cases.
MenB is the most common cause of meningococcal meningitis in the UK, but routine vaccinations were only rolled out in 2015 so the current generation of students and others in their late teens would not be covered.
Juliette's head teacher, Amelia McIlroy, said she was "a genuinely caring and attentive listener, a true friend who listened with warmth, respect and sincere interest to her peers and to our staff".
"In short, she was a lovely girl," she added.
Students continued to queue to receive "precautionary antibiotics" at the University of Kent on Tuesday morning.
More than 30,000 people across Canterbury have been contacted by UKHSA, which said the outbreak was "particularly large" and "unprecedented in recent years".
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The UKHSA is urging anyone who may have been affected to take up antibiotic treatment
Amirthalingam, deputy director of immunisation at the UKHSA, said in an interview with BBC Radio 5Live Breakfast that it "seems to be the group B strain that is causing the outbreak we're seeing in Kent".
She says its response to the MenB outbreak has been "very swift", after some raised questions about the speed of response.
Amirthalingam said the first cases were identified on Saturday.
Pressed on whether officials reacted quick enough, she said "absolutely".
She said the initial cases "were taken extremely seriously", with local public health teams immediately "identifying the closest contacts who would benefit from preventative antibiotics".
Amirthalingam says the pace of this outbreak is "certainly unusual", with several cases appearing in a short period of time.
The outbreak is thought to be linked to a nightclub event in the city, with the UKHSA urging anyone who visited Club Chemistry on 5, 6 or 7 March to "come forward for preventative antibiotic treatment as a precautionary measure".
The university campus would remain open, despite all scheduled assessments for the next few days being cancelled.
Antibiotics will also be available from 08:30 GMT at the Gate Clinic at Kent and Canterbury Hospital, Westgate Hall in Canterbury and the Carey Building at Thanet Hub in Westwood.
Routine vaccination against Men B for babies and young children was rolled out from 2015, while children aged 13 or 14 are offered vaccination against other meningitis strains in a programme run through schools.
