Brain-Eating Amoeba Kills California Woman - What is Naegleria fowleri?

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Initially diagnosed with meningitis due to symptoms of headaches followed by vomiting, a 21-year-old woman from Central California died from a brain-eating amoeba infection, CBS reported. Her family has requested not to release her name to the public.

She was first taken into the Northern Inyo Hospital when she first complained about the symptoms after taking a nap. However, her condition continued to deteriorate and she was then flown to Renown Regional Medical Center in Reno, Nevada, where she died.

The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) did some tests and found out that the cause of death of the California woman was due to a brain-eating amoeba called Naegleria Fowleri. The woman was reported to be swimming on private property but sources will not specify further.

The CDC further explained that Naegleria Fowleri, commonly referred to as the brain-eating amoeba, is a free-living microscopic amoeba. They are commonly found in warm freshwater like lakes, rivers and hot springs, and in very rare instances, in inadequately chlorinated swimming pool water or heated and contaminated tap water.

It usually infects humans when contaminated water enters the body through the nose. The CDC adds that one cannot get infected from drinking Naegleria-contaminated water.

From the nose where it entered, the amoeba then travels to the brain and causes a disease called Primary Amebic Meningoencephalitis (PAM), an infection in the brain that begins to destroy brain tissue, seemingly eating parts of the brain. Infection typically occurs during swimming or diving in warm freshwater places.

Reported symptoms of the infection include headache, fever, nausea and vomiting. They progress rapidly and would eventually cause fatality within five days. To know more about this amoeba, DNews made a very informative video, which you can view below:

However, health officials have noted that occurrences of this type of amoeba are rare and infections are even rarer. California public health officer Dr. Richard Johnson told the Los Angeles Times that there have been no evident cases of contamination in well-maintained and properly-treated swimming pools or hot springs in the U.S.

Time.com reported this is the second death in the U.S. concerning the naegleria fowleri amoeba for the past two years. Reported last July 2014 was the case of Hally Yust.

Such is the rarity of this infection that only 133 cases have been reported over the past 53 years, added the Times. Among those cases, only three are known to have survived. Seven of those cases were reported to have taken place in California.

Furthermore, in a report from USA Today, Dr. Johnson advised people to be more cautious when using untreated springs in the Sierras and to keep heads above water when swimming.