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Brain-eating amoeba infection in Louisiana resident
NOLA.com • • health
Key Points:
- The Louisiana Department of Health confirmed a rare case of Naegleria fowleri, a deadly brain-eating amoeba infection, in a resident likely contracted while swimming in Lake Claiborne.
- Naegleria fowleri is a naturally occurring amoeba found in warm freshwater bodies and infects the brain only if contaminated water enters the nose, leading to fatal brain swelling; it is not transmitted person-to-person or by swallowing water.
- The infection is extremely rare but almost always fatal, with only 180 known U.S. cases since 1937 and typically occurring in summer months when water temperatures are higher.
- Louisiana has had three cases since 1937, including two deaths in 2011 linked to neti pot use and a 4-year-old boy's death in 2013 after playing in a Slip ‘N Slide under hot, muddy conditions.
- The CDC advises reducing risk by limiting water entering the nose and acknowledges no routine environmental testing for the amoeba due to its rarity.
