Recent Fatal Brain-eating Amoeba Case in Florida May Have Been Triggered by Unfiltered Tap Water, Health Officials Report; Here's Everything You Need To Know About Naegleria fowleri

The Florida Department of Health officials reported that a person in Charlotte County, Florida, was recently inflicted with brain-eating amoeba that causes infection to the brain, likely as a result of cleaning sinuses with unfiltered tap water. The person's status was not disclosed although the infection is usually deadly.

Fatal Brain-eating Amoeba Infection

The state health agency announced on February 23 that the person is a confirmed case of Naegleria fowleri, a single-celled organism that can cause brain-eating sickness. As per the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the microorganism is typically found in soil and warm fresh water that can sometimes live in water tanks, heaters, and pipes

In rare cases, it can invade the human body and cause the almost always fatal brain and spinal cord disease called primary amebic meningoencephalitis (PAM). Individuals do not get PAM by eating N. fowleri or interacting with someone who is already infected; rather, the amoeba enters the brain through the nose, via the nerve that carries information about odors from the nose to the brain.

In extremely rare cases, people have contracted N. fowleri infections from recreational water that lacked sufficient chlorine, such as pools, splash pads, or surf parks. Research shows that N. fowleri cannot spread through water vapor or aerosol particles, such as shower mist or vapor from a humidifier. More so, drinking polluted water cannot infect people with N. fowleri.

Nonetheless, Live Science reports that the infection causes symptoms one to 12 days after the brain-eating amoeba enters the nose, and it is virtually invariably deadly. Victims usually die one to 18 days after symptoms appear.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) warns against the use of neti pots and other sinus-washing methods given how unsafe tap water is for a nasal rinse since it is not appropriately filtered or treated. Rather, they advise consumers to boil tap water before using it for such activities, run it through a filter intended to catch pathogenic organisms, or use distilled or sterile water.

Instructions to Avoid Infection

FDA stated that as part of a multi-agency response, DOH-Charlotte is continuing to investigate how this illness originated and is collaborating with local public utilities to uncover any potential linkages and take any required remedial steps.

Health News Florida reported that residents in Charlotte County were advised to follow the instructions below:

• Boil tap water for at least one minute and cool it down before using water for sinus rinsing.
• Do not let the water go up the nose or sniff it when bathing, showering, washing the face, or swimming in small hard plastic or blow-up pools.
• Never jump or put your head into the bathing water.
• Do not let children play unsupervised with hoses or sprinklers as they might unintentionally squirt water up their noses. Also, do not allow them to go to slip-n-slides or join in activities where it is difficult to prevent water from going inside the nose.
• Clean hard plastic or blow-up pools by emptying, scrubbing and drying them after each use.
• Disinfected pools regularly, including before and after use.

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