Its name alone is terrifying. But infections in humans are both rare and devastating. Here are five things to know about the microscopic brain-eating amoeba Naegleria fowleri.
An illustration of Naegleria fowleri, also called the brain-eating amoeba. The organism can cause meningoencephalitis , most often by infecting swimmers through their noses. Headaches, vomiting, sensory disturbance and a fatal coma may occur if the victim is not treated quickly and adequately.
Iowa's Department of Health and Human Services says it's working with the CDC to confirm whether Naegleria fowleri is present in the lake — a process that takes several days. The state agency is also in contact with the Missouri Department of Health, an Iowa representative told NPR. "To get infected, the amoeba has to get to the ceiling of your nose – way, way up there," the late epidemiologist Raoult Ratard"At the top of the nose you have a little paper-thin plate made of bone with a bunch of holes, a little bit like a mosquito net," Ratard said."The holes are for the olfactory nerve. So the amoeba is crawling up the nerve and gets into the brain."The first stage of symptoms can include a severe frontal headache, fever, nausea and vomiting,.
It compares that figure to the nearly 4,000 people who died from unintentional drowning deaths in each year of the same period, according to estimates.
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
NPR Cookie Consent and Choices
Read more »
A swimmer was infected with a brain-eating amoeba after visiting at an Iowa beachA beach in Iowa is closed after a rare life-threatening infection of the brain was confirmed in a visitor who recently went swimming there.
Read more »
Iowa beach closed after man infected with ‘brain-eating’ amoeba'Brain-eating amoeba' that closed Iowa beach is as rare as it is fatal.
Read more »
Iowa Lake Closes After Visitor Infected With Life-Threatening, Brain-Eating AmoebaA Missouri resident is in the intensive care unit with primary amebic meningoencephalitis, or PAM, after swimming in Lake of Three Fires in Taylor County, Iowa
Read more »
Iowa beach closes after visitor infected with life-threatening, brain-eating amoebaA Missouri resident is in the intensive care unit with primary amebic meningoencephalitis, or PAM, after swimming in Lake of Three Fires in Taylor County, Iowa.
Read more »
Cal product Korey Lee has day to remember as Astros beat AthleticsThe A’s continued to struggle offensively and fell to Houston and former Cal star Korey Lee.
Read more »