A Florida boy contracted Naegleria fowleri while knee boarding in a water-filled ditch. Here’s what you need to know about the sometimes fatal amoeba.A 12 year old boy in southwest Florida is fighting a rare brain infection caused by Naegleria Fowleri (N. fowleri) after knee boarding with some friends in a water-filled ditch in LaBelle, Fla. This latest case of infection comes less than a month after an Arkansas girl ended up in a hospital, fighting for her life. Here, we look at what it is and how to avoid the sometimes deadly brain-eating amoeba.
N. fowleri is an amoeba that lives in warm freshwater, such as ponds, lakes and hot springs. It also thrives in the soil around it. Normally, it eats the bacteria found in these places, but when presented with the opportunity, it will eat brains. There is no evidence of this organism living in salt water. It is an amoeba belonging to the groups Percolozoa or Heterolobosea.
The amoeba invades the body and causes a rare brain infection known as primary amebic meningoencephalitis, or PAM, that eats away at brain tissue and is usually fatal, according to the Centers for Disease Control.
N. fowleri invades the central nervous system through the nose. From there, the amoeba moves the along olfactory nerve fibers into the brain, where it uses its suckers to devour brain cells. It’s difficult to treat because by the time it’s been diagnosed, it’s already caused significant damage.
N. fowleri is most often caught by people who have been swimming underwater, but it’s also thought to be transmitted through inhaling infected dust. Last year, two people died in Louisiana after they used tap water to flush out their sinuses.
Freshwater — especially warm freshwater. Most cases have occurred in Southern or Southwestern states, especially Texas and Florida. It’s been known to show up in swimming pools and hot tubs that haven’t been properly chlorinated. Last month, a popular water park in Arkansas voluntarily closed after a 12-year old girl who swam there was diagnosed with N. fowleri
N. fowleri infections are very rare — they’ve only killed 128 Americans between 1962 and 2012, according to the Centers for Disease Control. But you can reduce your risk of catching it by keeping your head out of the water when you’re swimming in water that hasn’t been chlorinated. If you’re flushing your sinuses, be sure to use distilled or recently boiled water.
