A Georgia resident has died from a rare brain infection, commonly known as the “brain-eating amoeba”, state health officials said on Friday.
The victim was infected with Naegleria fowleri, an amoeba that destroys brain tissue, causes brain swelling and usually death, the Georgia department of health confirmed in a news release.
This is the sixth case of the infection in Georgia since 1962. But there have been a handful of other similar cases reported in the US so far this year, according to NBC News.
And because the amoeba grows in warm fresh water, it is well suited to proliferate as temperatures in the US rise amid the ongoing climate crisis, according to environmental experts.
Officials said the victim in Georgia was probably infected while swimming in a freshwater lake or pond but did not say where. People can become infected when water containing the amoeba goes up a person’s nose. It cannot infect people if swallowed and is not spread from person to person.
“The amoeba is naturally occurring, and there is no routine environmental test for Naegleria fowleri in bodies of water; and because it is very common in the environment, levels of the amoebas that naturally occur cannot be controlled,” health officials said. “The location and number of amoebas in the water can vary over time within the same body of water.”
Officials did not release any additional information about the victim.
Symptoms of an infection include severe headache, fever, nausea and vomiting and progress to a stiff neck, seizures and coma that can lead to death. Symptoms start about five days after infection but can start anywhere from one to 12 days after infection. Symptoms progress rapidly and can cause death within five days.
People who choose to swim can reduce their risk of infection by limiting the mount of water that goes up their nose. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends not jumping or diving into bodies of fresh water, as well as holding your nose shut and keeping your head above water.
Elsewhere in the US, a two-year-old boy from Lincoln county, Nevada, reportedly died from being infected by Naegleria fowleri in July, according to NBC News. Officials said the boy may have contracted the amoeba at Ash Springs, a natural hot spring in his county, which is north of Las Vegas.
In February, a man in Florida also died from an amoeba, which he may have contracted after he rinsed his sinuses with tap water, health officials said.
NBC reported three confirmed cases of Naegleria fowleri last year. They apparently occurred after exposure to freshwater in Iowa, Nebraska and Arizona, according to CDC data.
Three cases were also reported each year in 2019, 2020 and 2021, according to NBC’s reporting.
The Associated Press contributed reporting
