Results 1 to 6 of 6

Thread Information

Users Browsing this Thread

There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)

  1. #1
    Senior Member JohnDoe2's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2008
    Location
    PARADISE (San Diego)
    Posts
    99,040

    Fatal Brain Eating Amoeba Now Invading Northern US

    Fatal Brain Eating Amoeba Now Invading Northern US, Courtesy Climate Change

    By Peter R- 25 Jul '15 17:05PM
    SHARE ( 5 )TWEET ( 1 )


    • (Photo : CDC/Wikimedia Commons) The deadly amoeba causes a rare but fatal infection in humans. It enters the skull through the nose. Image shows infected brain tissue under microscope


    Global warming is pushing a dangerous brain eating amoeba north into the US, experts warn.


    The recent death of a Minnesota teen has sparked debate whether warmer summers are facilitating survival of amoeba Naegleria fowleri in northern lakes and water holes. According to US News and World Report which quoted Dr Bruce Hirsch of North Shore University Hospital, NY, the ameba prefers warmer waters of the south but climate change is providing just that in northern regions which do not have a record of its presence until recent past.

    Naegleria fowleri infections are usually fatal. The ameba enters the brain through the nose and causes an infection called primary amebic meningoencephalitis. Symptoms usually begin within five days of infection. Only three people are known to have survived an infection since 1962.

    Though dangerous, Naegleria fowleri infections are rare. There have only been 133 recorded cases of infections in the past five decades. Health officials recommend avoiding nasal rinsing and preventing water in untreated pools from entering the nose.

    Natural water bodies too are known to host the ameba.

    "We don't know why someone gets infected and others don't. We really can't tell you what to do not to get infected," pediatric expert Dr Adriana Cadilla, quoted by US News and World Report. She added that water posed other bigger risks including drowning, which are more important to address.

    http://www.newseveryday.com/articles/22095/20150725/fatal-brain-eating-ameba-now-invading-northern-courtesy-climate-change.htm#mjlhmHxGgsWuAzzI.99
    NO AMNESTY

    Don't reward the criminal actions of millions of illegal aliens by giving them citizenship.


    Sign in and post comments here.

    Please support our fight against illegal immigration by joining ALIPAC's email alerts here https://eepurl.com/cktGTn

  2. #2
    Senior Member JohnDoe2's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2008
    Location
    PARADISE (San Diego)
    Posts
    99,040
    NO AMNESTY

    Don't reward the criminal actions of millions of illegal aliens by giving them citizenship.


    Sign in and post comments here.

    Please support our fight against illegal immigration by joining ALIPAC's email alerts here https://eepurl.com/cktGTn

  3. #3
    Senior Member JohnDoe2's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2008
    Location
    PARADISE (San Diego)
    Posts
    99,040
    HEALTH

    SEP 16 2013, 4:35 PM ET


    Deadly brain amoeba infects US tap water for the first time

    by MAGGIE FOX


    The CDC says it's found Naegleria fowleri, an almost always deadly amoeba, in a U.S. drinking water supply for the first time.

    A deadly brain amoeba that’s killed two boys this year has been found in a U.S. drinking water supply system for the first time, officials said Monday -- in a New Orleans-area system.


    The Naegleria fowleri parasite killed a 4-year-old Mississippi boy who likely got it playing on a back yard Slip 'N Slide, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention officials say. Tests show it’s present throughout the water supply system in St. Bernard Parish, directly southeast of New Orleans.


    “We have never seen Naegleria colonizing a treated water supply before,” said Dr. Michael Beach, head of water safety for the CDC. “From a U.S. perspective this is a unique situation.”


    N. fowleri is a heat-loving amoeba that’s usually harmless, unless it gets up someone’s nose. It’s not entirely clear how or why, but in rare instances it can attach to one of the nerves that takes smell signals to the brain. There, the amoeba reproduces and the brain swelling and infection that follows is almost always deadly.


    It killed a Miami-area boy last month -- 12-year-old Zachary Reyna -- and a 12-year-old Arkansas girl, Kali Hardig, is recovering slowly after an unusual experimental treatment.


    N. fowleri is usually found in warm, fresh waters all over the world.

    It’s been seen in hot springs and swimming holes, freshwater lakes and even in neti pots used to clean out sinuses. Incomplete disinfection probably allowed it to thrive in St. Bernard, which has its own independent water system, Beach says.


    “The key to this is understanding that this amoeba is kind of a heat-loving bug,” Beach said in a telephone interview. “If water temperatures start going up, you really need to be extremely careful about maintaining the disinfectant. The farther you go from a plant, the more likely you are for the disinfectant levels to get low.”


    That’s what apparently happened in St. Bernard, which takes water from the Mississippi River and cleans it up for people to use. “We want all communities … checking the peripheries of their water distribution system,” Beach says.


    N. fowleri has only been reported in about 130 people in the U.S. since 1962, making it extremely rare. Kali Hardig is only the third person known to have survived infection. It was formally identified in 1965, in Australia, where it did contaminate drinking water systems for a while, says Beach.


    “In Australia, it was basically water being pumped from rivers and overland,” he says. The water got warm over long distances across the desert, and the amoeba thrived. Three children died after being immersed in baths and wading pools. Better disinfection has meant no cases since 1981, Australian health officials say.


    Lousiana health department spokesman Ken Pastorick says officials are flushing out and decontaminating the St. Bernard Parish system, a process that may take several weeks.


    “They have shocked the water, so to speak,” Pastorick said. “What has caused the problem here is low chlorination.” Pastorick says other Louisiana water systems are safe.


    Beach says it’s not necessary to test water systems for the amoeba.

    Proper chlorination should always take care of it, he says.


    And he stresses that water is safe to drink and bathe in even if it’s contaminated. Stomach acid appears to kill the amoeba, and people can protect themselves by not snorting water up their noses, or not allowing it to be forced up the nose.


    St. Bernard water customers are being cautioned not to fill kiddie pools with tap water, or to use other water toys such as the sliding game that the 4-year-old boy who died was playing on. Topping up swimming pools with hoses is a bad, idea, too, unless the water first goes through the disinfection system.


    “The critical piece is kids in the water,” Pastorick says.

    http://www.nbcnews.com/health/deadly...tem-8C11172643

    NO AMNESTY

    Don't reward the criminal actions of millions of illegal aliens by giving them citizenship.


    Sign in and post comments here.

    Please support our fight against illegal immigration by joining ALIPAC's email alerts here https://eepurl.com/cktGTn

  4. #4
    Senior Member JohnDoe2's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2008
    Location
    PARADISE (San Diego)
    Posts
    99,040
    'Brain-Eating' Amoeba Reappears in Louisiana Parish's Water Supply

    Jul 24, 2015, 1:01 PM ET
    By GILLIAN MOHNEY GILLIAN MOHNEY More From Gillian »
    Digital Reporter

    Magnified 500x, this photomicrograph of a brain tissue specimen depicts the cytoarchitectural changes associated with a free-living, Naegleria fowleri, amebic infection.
    Getty Images

    A potentially deadly amoeba has been found in the water supply of a parish outside New Orleans for the second time in two years, officials said.

    Water from St. Bernard Parish, five miles outside of downtown New Orleans, has tested positive for Naegleria fowleri and the Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals ordered a 60-day chlorine "burn" starting Thursday to ensure the pathogen would be eradicated from the water supply, officials said.


    Teen Dies from Rare Brain-Eating Amoeba After Swimming in Lake

    Girl Who Survived Brain-Eating Amoeba Swims Again
    Girl Killed by Brain-Eating Amoeba Loved the Water

    It remained unclear how prevalent the amoeba was in the water system since the only two positive tests included a sample of untreated water and another sample from a station that may have been contaminated by ground water. The treated water was found to have the recommended amount of chlorine.


    Jacob Groby, quality control chief for St. Bernard Parish Water and Sewer Division, said water was being flushed and retested to see if the amoeba was present anywhere else in the 225-mile water system.


    The water system serves 44,000 people, down from approximately 68,000 before Hurricane Katrina drove out residents in 2005.


    The lowered population post-Katrina and increased use of eco-friendly devices have led to less water being treated for the same water system, Groby said. As a result, water is standing in the pipes for longer and possibly losing some of its chlorination, he said.


    The Naegleria fowleri is a naturally occurring pathogen in freshwater and can be deadly if it enters the body through the nose and makes its way into the brain. It does not harm people if they drink it or if it gets on their skin.


    In 2013, a 4-year-old boy died in the parish after being infected with the amoeba, while playing on a slip-n-slide, health officials said at the time.


    Dr. William Schaffner, an infectious disease expert at Vanderbilt University Medical School, said people in the area should take steps to stay safe, including keeping their pool chlorinated, and stopping children from playing with hoses to stay cool.


    "You don't [want] water up into the nose," Schaffner said. "You can’t get it just by drinking water -- that’s not a problem."

    http://abcnews.go.com/Health/brain-e...ry?id=32665555

    NO AMNESTY

    Don't reward the criminal actions of millions of illegal aliens by giving them citizenship.


    Sign in and post comments here.

    Please support our fight against illegal immigration by joining ALIPAC's email alerts here https://eepurl.com/cktGTn

  5. #5
    Senior Member JohnDoe2's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2008
    Location
    PARADISE (San Diego)
    Posts
    99,040
    NO AMNESTY

    Don't reward the criminal actions of millions of illegal aliens by giving them citizenship.


    Sign in and post comments here.

    Please support our fight against illegal immigration by joining ALIPAC's email alerts here https://eepurl.com/cktGTn

  6. #6
    Senior Member JohnDoe2's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2008
    Location
    PARADISE (San Diego)
    Posts
    99,040
    NO AMNESTY

    Don't reward the criminal actions of millions of illegal aliens by giving them citizenship.


    Sign in and post comments here.

    Please support our fight against illegal immigration by joining ALIPAC's email alerts here https://eepurl.com/cktGTn

Similar Threads

  1. 'Brain-eating amoeba' kills third person
    By JohnDoe2 in forum Other Topics News and Issues
    Replies: 7
    Last Post: 07-25-2015, 06:16 PM
  2. Fatal brain disease potentially affects five people in Massachusetts
    By JohnDoe2 in forum Other Topics News and Issues
    Replies: 1
    Last Post: 09-05-2013, 11:52 PM
  3. "Brain-eating" amoeba kills 10 in Pakistan: How rare is it?
    By JohnDoe2 in forum Other Topics News and Issues
    Replies: 0
    Last Post: 10-09-2012, 04:20 PM
  4. Pentagon: Brain Eating Vaccines to Lobotomize Vets - vid
    By AirborneSapper7 in forum Other Topics News and Issues
    Replies: 2
    Last Post: 04-03-2012, 10:42 AM
  5. 'Invading Iran is invading Russia, China'
    By AirborneSapper7 in forum Other Topics News and Issues
    Replies: 4
    Last Post: 01-02-2012, 11:48 PM

Tags for this Thread

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •