BRAIN-EATING AMOEBA IN LOUISIANA PLUMBING SYSTEM - VIDEO

The Department of Health and Hospitals in Louisiana has confirmed that the amoeba was found in the home's plumbing system.

 

An investigation is underway to determine how a rare brain-eating amoeba found its way into a plumbing system of a home in Louisiana, according to the Center for Disease Control.

 

A four-year-old boy from Mississippi became the fourth confirmed infection in 2013 of the amoeba, Naegleria fowleri, last week, after playing in water from the home in St. Barnard Parish, La.

 

Most often, cases are reported in southern-tier states, such as Florida and Texas, during the summer months. The two states have accounted for almost 50 percent of cases reported to the CDC since 1962.  The infection is not unprecedented in Louisiana, however.

 

A human becomes infected with the amoeba when contaminated water enters the nose and travels to the brain, resulting in the infection known as primary amebic meningoencephaltis, or PAM.

 

The infection destroys brain tissue, resulting in brain swelling. In its early stages, it has similar symptoms of bacterial meningitis such as headache, fever, nausea and vomiting.

 

Later symptoms included stiff neck, confusion, loss of balance, seizures and, in most cases, death.A total of 128 infections have been reported between 1962 and 2012.

 

In the 10 years from 2003 to 2012, 31 infections were reported in the U.S.

Read more - http://www.accuweather.com/en/weather-news/braineating-amoeba-discovered/17691349

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/09/13/brain-eating-amoeba-louisiana-naegleria-fowleri_n_3920825.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naegleria_fowleri

Animal Planet "Monsters Inside Me" short video about brain eating amoeba - http://animal.discovery.com/tv-shows/monsters-inside-me/videos/the-brain-eating-amoeba.htm


Link to this post - http://ottersandsciencenews.blogspot.ca/2013/09/brain-eating-amoeba-in-louisiana.html

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