Brain-eating amoeba Naegleria fowleri suspected of second death in US

Omaha, Nebraska: A child likely died of a rare infection caused by a brain-eating amoeba after swimming in a river in eastern Nebraska, health officials said.

The Douglas County Department of Health, based in Omaha, Nebraska, reported that doctors believe the child died of primary amebic meningoencephalitis. It is believed that he came into contact with an amoeba while swimming in the Elkhorn River.

Authorities have not released the child’s identity.

Last month, a Missouri resident died from the same infection, likely caused by an amoeba, in Lake Three Fires in southwestern Iowa. Iowa officials closed the lake’s beaches for nearly three weeks as a precaution.

Infection is usually caused by swimming or jumping into water containing amoeba and entering the body through the nose. Other sources have been documented, including contaminated tap water in cities in the Houston area in 2020. Symptoms include fever, headache, nausea or vomiting, progression to stiff neck, loss of balance, hallucinations and seizures.

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Naegleria fowleri infections are rare, with about three cases each year in the United States, but these infections were overwhelmingly fatal.

According to the CDC, the United States reported 154 cases between 1962 and 2021, with only four survivors. Of those, 71 cases were reported between 2000 and 2021. Texas and Florida recorded the most infections with 39 and 37 respectively. It is also found in southern states because it breeds in warm waters.

But infections have moved north, including two cases in Minnesota since 2010, Douglas County Health Commissioner Dr. Lindsey Hughes noted at a news conference Friday (AEST).