Naegleria fowleri
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
N. fowleri can invade and attack the human nervous system. Although this occurs rarely, such an infection nearly always results in the death of the victim. Naegleria fowleri ( /nəˈɡlɪəriə/; also known as “the brain-eating amoeba”) is a free-living excavate form of protist typically found in warm bodies of fresh water, such as ponds, lakes, rivers, and hot springs. It is also found in soil, near warm water discharges of industrial plants, and minimally chlorinated swimming pools (there is no evidence of this organism living in ocean water) in an amoeboid or temporary flagellate stage. It belongs to a group called the Percolozoa or Heterolobosea. Although not a true amoeba, the organism is often referred to as an amoeba for convenience.
Brain Eating Bug in Lakes Kills Swimmers
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Naegleria Fowleri living in warm lakes this summer enters the body through the nose and attacks the brain where it feeds on your brain until you die.
Even though encounters with the microscopic bug are extraordinarily rare, it has killed six boys and young men this year. The spike in cases has health officials concerned, and they are predicting more cases in the future.
“This is definitely something we need to track,” said Michael Beach, a specialist in recreational waterborne illnesses for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
“This is a heat-loving amoeba. As water temperatures go up, it does better,” Beach said. “In future decades, as temperatures rise, we’d expect to see more cases.”
According to the CDC, the amoeba called Naegleria fowleri killed 23 people in the United States from 1995 to 2004. This year health officials noticed a spike with six cases – three in Florida, two in Texas, and one in Arizona. The CDC knows of only several hundred cases worldwide since its discovery in Australia in the 1960s.
In Arizona, David Evans said nobody knew his son, Aaron, was infected with the amoeba until after the 14-year-old died on Sept. 17. At first, the teen seemed to be suffering from nothing more than a headache.
“We didn’t know,” Evans said. “And here I am: I come home and I’m burying him.”
After doing more tests, doctors said Aaron probably picked up the amoeba a week before while swimming in the balmy shallows of Lake Havasu, a popular man-made lake on the Colorado River between Arizona and California.
This organism is part of the swine flu parasite set and frequencies are posted on the subscribers blog.