State health officials from St. Bernard Parish in Louisiana confirmed the presence of the Naegleria fowleri, the brain-eating amoeba, in its water supply. It was confirmed after a death incident of a four-year -old child who ingested the deadly infection while having fun on a slip-and-slide, CBS reports.
"The water is safe to drink and there are basic precautions that families can take -- such as chlorinating their pools and avoiding getting water in their noses -- to protect them, though infection from this amoeba is very rare," Louisiana state health officer Jimmy Guidry said in a press release.
WWLTV.com previously reported that the child who died came from Mississippi and was only visiting the place when he got infected. This infection called Primary Amoebic Meningoencephalitis or PAM can only be acquired through nasal ingestion.
After this incident, the St. Bernard Parish started to put more chlorine to its water supply and also cut off the water leading to the drinking fountains in nearby schools.
This specific amoeba, the Naegleria fowleri, is normally found in warm fresh waters like streams, lakes and canals with a temperature reaching 115-degrees Fahrenheit. It needs to enter the nose to swim up to the brain and cause the PAM. Thus, it is unlikely to be infected by drinking water.
This rare infection was reported to have 128 occurrences in the U.S between from 1962 to 2012 with only one survivor.
A week before, Kali Hardig, a 12-year old girl also got infected by the brain-eating amoeba but was able to survive the infection. It was believed to be cured by a German drug, miltefosine, which is now expanded by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention.
Hardig ingested the amoeba from a now closed park near a sandy-bottom lake. The amoeba was possibly stirred with the sediments at the lake bottom while children played in the park.
