Tragically, the victim died on Wednesday at an Oklahoma City hospital. The disease is known as primary amoebic meningoencephalitis (PAM) and it has a very rapid progression.
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Swimming in properly maintained pools prevents PAM because chlorine rapidly kills the amoeba.
Naegleria fowleri amoeba is found in warm freshwater ponds lakes and rivers, and in the very warm water of hot springs.
PAM is an extremely rare and usually deadly disease caused by infection with a single-celled organism (amoeba), Naegleria fowleri. Only the amoeboid trophozoite stage exists in human tissue.
The Oklahoma Tourism and Recreation Department confirmed the person was camping at the Ski Jump campground. (Testing conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention was positive for Naegleria fowleri.).
Last June, an adult woman has been reported to have died of same causes in the country and only last Monday, the Minnesota Health Department is suspecting a teen’s death to be from the same amoeba, Outbreak News Today reports. Experts say swimmers should take precautions to keep water out of their nose when swimming in unchlorinated bodies of water. Typical symptoms may start after a day or two; headache, fever, nausea and vomiting.
“If you’re diving or playing or swimming and you accidentally inhale water into your nose, and the amoeba gets into your nose it travels up into the brain and causes encephalitis”, says Laurence Burnsed, and Epidemiologist with the Oklahoma State Department of Health. Later symptoms may include seizures, irrational behavior, hallucinations and finally coma and death.
“I’d be more anxious about people not wearing sunscreen than this brain eating bacteria”, Smiley says. Naegleria fowleri amoeba can not be spread from person-to-person.
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Swimmers are advised to avoid forcing water up their noses, swallowing water or going in stagnant bodies of water or water that smells foul or contains mats of algae.
