A man died in Florida due to an infection caused by the so-called brain eating amoeba. Health agency officials in Charlotte, southwest Florida, say the victim likely became infected after doing nasal washes with tap water contaminated with the microorganism. Naegleria fowleri.
Brain Eating Amoeba in Tap Water: What Happened
Note: It’s not enough to drink tap water to contract it: “Basically, to get this disease you have to force water through your nose, it’s a very strange way to get it,” said the spokesperson for the Florida Department of Health , Jae Williams.
Infections are very rare, with just 31 Americans infected from 2012 to 2021, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “Naegleria fowleri is specific and relatively very difficult to contract because it has to go directly through the nose into the sinuses and into the brain,” Williams said. “It’s common in fresh water, particularly stagnant fresh water like that that gets heated in the sun,” he added.
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