Health
An unidentified person in Arizona has contracted an unidentified illness that initially led officials to suspect they may have been infected with Naegleria fowleri, a “brain-eating” amoeba, according to a report by Fox 10 in Phoenix.
However, state health officials have officially ruled out the presence of Naegleria fowleri as the cause of the illness. The Arizona Department of Health Services and Mohave County conducted a joint investigation and sent samples to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) for testing. The CDC confirmed that the samples tested negative for Naegleria fowleri, but did not disclose the cause of the mystery illness.
According to the CDC, Naegleria fowleri is the only species of amoeba that infects humans and destroys brain tissue, leading to swelling and often death. The infection has a survival rate of only 3%.
Symptoms of Naegleria fowleri infection include severe headache, fever, nausea, and vomiting. Death usually occurs within five days. Out of the 157 reported cases of infection in the U.S. between 1962 and 2022, only four individuals have survived. Texas and Florida have reported the highest number of cases.
People can become infected with Naegleria fowleri when water containing the amoeba enters the body through the nose, typically while swimming in lakes and rivers. The amoeba thrives in warm, fresh water and soil during the summer months of July, August, and September
The CDC has suggested that climate change may contribute to the increase in Naegleria fowleri infections and that they may become more common in the future.
Although the illness is rare, there has been an alarming rise in cases in recent years, with five reported so far this year. In a tragic incident, a 16-month-old child died after contracting the amoeba while playing at a country club’s splash pad in Arkansas. Another case resulted in the death of an unidentified man in Austin, Texas, after swimming in Lake Lyndon B. Johnson. In Georgia, a 17-year-old student named Megan Ebenroth died from the infection after swimming in a lake near her home, and a 2-year-old boy named Woodrow Bundy passed away after playing in the water in Ash Springs, Nevada.
In an unusual case, the CDC reported the first-ever case and death from Naegleria fowleri during winter. The person was using unboiled tap water for nasal rinsing on a regular basis, which is believed to have led to the infection.
Most recently, officials in Nevada issued a warning about the presence of the deadly amoeba in the hot springs below the Hoover Dam at Lake Meade. Fortunately, no cases have been reported in the area.
