Naegleria Fowleri Kills Man In US; Know More About This ‘Brain-Eating Amoeba’

New Delhi: A man in Florida died after being infected by Naegleria fowleri, which had claimed the life of a man in South Korea last year.

Floridians are prompted to avoid washing their faces with tap water. The advice came after the Florida Department of Health confirmed that the deceased died after being infected by Naegleria fowleri, a brain-eating amoeba.

Naegleria is a single-celled microscopic amoeba found in freshwater.  Most amoeba species are not dangerous except the Naegleria fowleri which infects humans.

As per medical experts, Naegleria fowleri amoeba enters the human body through the nose and reaches the brain, damaging the nerves. Symptoms of this fatal infection include fever, nausea, vomiting, and stiff neck.

When infection is serious it leads to seizures, hallucinations, and even coma. Only 4 out of 154 people in the United States have survived infection from 1962 to 2021.