Brain-Eating Amoeba Found In Louisiana Drinking Water Supply

[The Stig]

Original story HERE (http://consumerist.com/2013/09/13/brain-eating-amoeba-found-in-louisiana-drinking-water-supply/) at the Consumerist.com



Brain-Eating Amoeba Found In Louisiana Drinking Water Supply
By Mary Beth Quirk September 13, 2013


Yet another reason to avoid getting fresh water up your nose — even if you aren’t at a water park: Louisiana health officials have confirmed that tests conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that a local parish has brain-eating amoebae in its drinking water.

The tests come after a four-year-old boy died from an infection caused by the naegleri fowleri last month, reports CNN. Parish water levels were low on chlorine, tipping off officials that something could be wrong, as chlorine is needed to kill the amoebae.

It’s just fine to drink and cook with such water, officials reminded the public, but getting it up your nose poses a risk of letting the amoeba in and providing a path to your brain.

The pesky things are usually found in hot springs and warm fresh water, often in the Southeastern United States, posing problems for at least one freshwater water park where another victim was infected recently. Less than 1% of those who contract amoebic meningoencephalitis survive the infection, but the CDC is working on a new drug that could help fight it — so far, it’s already apparently saved the 12-year-old who caught an amoeba at the water park.

We’ve said it once but it’s worth saying again: Don’t swim in fresh water when it’s hot out and the water level is low; use nose clips or hold your nose if you do decide to go for a dip anyway; try not to stir up sediment in shallow freshwater areas and only use distilled or sterilized water in your neti pot.

[The Stig]

Original story HERE (http://www.ajc.com/news/news/national/officials-find-brain-eating-amoeba-louisiana-water/nZxMr/) at the Atlanta Journal Constitution


Officials find brain-eating amoeba in Louisiana water
By Alex Mallin

It’s never comfortable to get water up your nose. But in Louisiana, scientists have found traces of a rare amoeba in the water supply — and if it finds its way up your nose, it could kill you.

That’s because this rare specimen makes its way up to your brain and starts eating. According to the Centers for Disease Control, it starts an infection called amoebic meningoencephalitis. (Via Animal Planet)

The investigation started in Louisiana’s St. Bernard Parish after the death of a 4-year-old boy. His family confirms the boy had played on a Slip’N Slide before he contracted the infection. (Via CBS)

A similar case occurred with a young girl just this summer in Arkansas.

“During a swim at this water park in July, she contracted parasitic meningitis. … Her chance of survival, less than 1 percent. Before Kali, just two patients had been known to survive.” (Via CNN)

The amoeba can be destroyed and prevented from coming back in the water as long as it’s well-chlorinated. In the Louisiana case, investigators found the water supply didn’t contain enough chlorine. (Via The Consumerist)

Although the water is safe to drink, the risk of contracting the infection is greatly increased if it finds its way to the roof of a person’s nose. (Via The Times-Picayune)

The CDC recommends people avoid swimming in fresh water when the temperature is high and water levels are low, and hold their noses shut or wear nose clips while swimming.

City officials say they began flushing the parish’s water lines with chlorine last week and will continue until levels reach the recommended point.

[The Stig]

Original story HERE (http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-204_162-57602892/brain-eating-amoeba-found-in-st-bernard-parish-water-supply-following-death/) at CBSnews



"Brain-eating" amoeba found in St. Bernard Parish water supply following death

The brain-eating amoeba Naegleria fowleri has officially been found in the St. Bernard Parish, La. water supply following last week's death of 4-year-old who got the lethal infection when playing on a slip 'n slide.

"The water is safe to drink and there are basic precautions that families can take -- such as chlorinating their pools and avoiding getting water in their noses -- to protect themselves, though infection from this amoeba is very rare," Louisiana state health officer Jimmy Guidry said in a press release.

St. Bernard Parish is five miles from New Orleans.

CBS affiliate WWL in New Orleans reported last week the deceased child was from Mississippi and was visiting the area when he ingested the amoeba through his nose. Nasal ingestion is the only way the resulting infection, primary amebic meningoencephalitis (PAM), can be caused.

"They feel it was contracted in the with the slip 'n slide being out in the mud and the water for over a 12 or 14-hour period, in very hot conditions," St. Bernard Parish president David Peralta told WWL last Friday. At the time, he said the amoeba had only been found in a water tank in the toilet inside the home, and none was found in the parish's water supply.

That no longer appears to be the case, following additional testing from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The CDC has now found the amoeba in four sites in the Violet and Arabi areas. These samples were taken from fire hydrants and faucets connected directly to water lines, the health department said.

The parish had started chlorinating its water supply last week following the child's death, and officials said those efforts will continue given the latest testing.

"We know that chlorine kills Naegleria fowleri, which is why it was critical that the parish proactively began flushing its water system with additional chlorine last week," said assistant secretary for public health J.T. Lane. "The parish will continue this action until it raises chlorine residuals to recommended levels, and this process will continue for several weeks."

Some water samples tested last week had showed low levels of chlorine.

The St. Bernard Parish school system said Thursday that it 'cut off water' to public school fountains, WWL reported.

The Naegleria fowleri amoeba is found in warm, fresh waters such as lakes, streams and canals that are up to 115 degrees Fahrenheit in temperature. It has to swim up the nose through the brain to cause PAM, so drinking water likely won't present a health risk.

The infection is very rare: Of the 128 infections that occurred in the U.S. from 1962 and 2012, there was only one documented case of survival.

Earlier this week, Ark. 12-year-old Kali Hardig left the hospital after surviving the amebic infection she contracted at a now-shuttered water park over lake with a sandy bottom. The amoebas can sometimes be stirred up when the sediment at the bottom of these freshwaters is disturbed.

Kali's survival was helped by experimental German drug miltefosine, which the CDC expanded access to in late August.

A 12-year-old Fla. boy who contracted the amoeba last month and was treated with the drug was taken off of life support at the end of the month when his brain activity did not return.

La. health officials want parish residents to take precautions to reduce their risk of ingesting the amoeba though the nose:

Don't allow water to go up your nose or sniff water into your nose when bathing, showering, washing your face or swimming in small hard plastic or blow-up pools.
Don't jump into or put your head under bathing water. Instead, walk or lower yourself in.
Don't let kids play unsupervised with hoses or sprinklers, which may accidentally squirt water up their nose. Avoid slip-n-slides and activities where it is difficult to prevent water from going up the nose.
Run baths, shower taps and hoses for five minutes before use to flush out the pipes. This advice is most important the first time you use the tap after the water utility raises the disinfectant levels.
Keep small pools clean by emptying, scrubbing and allowing them to dry after each use.
Use only boiled and cooled, distilled, or sterile water for making sinus rinse solutions for Neti pots or performing ritual ablutions. In 2011, the amoeba was linked to deaths of two Louisiana residents who used contaminated water in neti pots.
Keep your swimming pool adequately disinfected before and during use, mainting proper pH and chlorine levels.

The CDC has more information on Naegleria fowleri

[The Stig]

So now there have been incidents in Florida, Arkansas and Louisiana.

Are your preps able to deal with something like this?

[ElevenBravo]

Im ready. I refuse to use water that is not processed PSHTF. MSR water filter then bleach treat.

Or boil 8 min then bleach treat.

Im working on a sand filter to trap particles, then I hope a distil set-up, then bleach for store or use. Its inn the plans anyway...




Also, it just doesnt make sense... How can getting the water up your nose be more effective means of introduction to the system than drinking? It seams to me that when you drink it goes into the system much more direct, up the nose... what is the path way?

EB

[helomech]

All my water is well water. I refuse to drink any public water.

[ak474u]

Yikes.

[Twitchy]

Im ready. I refuse to use water that is not processed PSHTF. MSR water filter then bleach treat.

Or boil 8 min then bleach treat.

Im working on a sand filter to trap particles, then I hope a distil set-up, then bleach for store or use. Its inn the plans anyway...




Also, it just doesnt make sense... How can getting the water up your nose be more effective means of introduction to the system than drinking? It seams to me that when you drink it goes into the system much more direct, up the nose... what is the path way?

EB

Mainly because there is only a membrane that blocks access to the brain in that area... Membranes are permeable, hence the amoeba being able to make it into the brain...

Fidel,MD might have more input on this one, as my knowledge of this particular bug and the detailed anatomy of the area is rather lacking...

[ElevenBravo]

Thanks Twitch, makes sense. Im sure I leared that in EMT class. 30 years ago. <G>

EB