Brain-Eating Amoeba Kills Man in South Korea

While the whole world is on its toe due to the new Covid-19 scare, South Korea has reported a case of the death of a man in his 50s because of Naegleria fowleri infection. This lethal infection is reportedly caused by a brain-eating amoeba. This victim had got infected by this dangerous amoeba in Thailand.

According to The Korea Times report, this man had stayed in Thailand for four months and returned to South Korea on December 10. The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) has confirmed that the man died of this brain-eating amoeba infection.

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.