(ProsperNews.net) – Officials are warning visitors to Nevada to beware of a brain-eating amoeba in Lake Mead. Naegleria fowleri transforms into a disease called primary amebic meningoencephalitis and kills almost 100% of the people it infects, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The Lake Mead National Recreation Area organization said, “Naegleria fowleri has been found in hot springs,” and advised visitors to avoid “splashing water, or submerging your head.”
Lake Mead is close to Las Vegas and Hoover Dam and stretches between Nevada and Arizona, but the disease is not confined to that region and has been uncovered elsewhere in the United States. A 2-year-old died earlier this year in Nevada, but a resident of Georgia also succumbed to the amoeba in 2023. In September, a toddler died in Arkansas after swimming in a country club in Little Rock.
Naegleria fowleri can live in freshwater lakes, hot springs, rivers, and ponds. It also survives in soil near water and has been discovered in swimming pools. Of the 157 known cases of infection in the United States since 1962, only four people have survived – demonstrating a fatality rate of 97%. The amoeba also appears to be spreading and moving northward from the warmer southern states. Cases have been identified in Nebraska, Maryland, northern California, Iowa, Indiana, and Minnesota.
The CDC explains that symptoms of Naegleria fowleri begin to develop between one and five days after exposure. Initial signs include headache, nausea, vomiting, and fever, but these graduate to confusion, stiff neck, inability to focus or pay attention, seizures, hallucination, and eventually coma and death. There is no documented effective treatment, but scientists are optimistic as recent experimentation shows that Miltefosine has successfully saved three lives.
The CDC adds, however, that the risk of death from Naegleria fowleri is very low compared to other water-based hazards. Between 2013 and 2020, there were 27 cases of Naegleria fowleri in the US, compared to 4,012 drownings.
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