Thread: 'Brain-eating amoeba' kills third person

'Brain-eating amoeba' kills third person

Nine-year-old Va. boy dies after swimming in water infected by bug

msnbc.com news services

A nine-year-old Virginia boy has died after swimming in water infected by a bug known as the "brain-eating amoeba," according to reports. It was the third such death this month.

The Richmond Times-Dispatch reported that Christian Alexander Strickland, 9, of Henrico County, became infected after he went to a fishing camp in the state.

The child died from meningitis Aug. 5 and Bonnie Strickland, his aunt, told the paper that Naegleria fowleri — or "brain-eating amoeba" as it is sometimes known — was a suspected cause of the illness.

"The doctor described it to us as such a slight chance that they didn't even think it would be possible," Bonnie Strickland told the Times-Dispatch.

Health department officials told the paper they do not comment on individual cases. However, they confirmed a case of meningitis and an infection by the bug.

"Sadly, we have had a Naegleria infection in Virginia this summer," Dr. Keri Hall, state epidemiologist at the Virginia Department of Health, in a statement, according to the Times-Dispatch. "It's important that people be aware of … safe swimming messages."

Naegleria fowleri moves into the body through the nose and destroys brain tissue, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The bug causes primary amoebic meningoencephalitis, a nearly always fatal disease of the central nervous system, the CDC reported.

Naegleria fowleri is usually found warm, stagnant water in freshwater lakes, ponds and rivers. It can also be found in wells.

No known treatment for infection
Currently, there is no known treatment for people who develop a brain infection with this bug, said Dr. Roy Gulick, chief of infectious disease at New York-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center.

It's a very rare disease.

http://health.nbcnews.com/_news/2011...s-third-person

Naegleria fowleri moves into the body through the nose and destroys brain tissue, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The bug causes primary amoebic meningoencephalitis, a nearly always fatal disease of the central nervous system, the CDC reported.

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For whatever reasons, these lethal parasite infections seem to be on the rise both in humans and animals.

A friend of mine raises poultry eggs and has been hit especially hard this summer with mite infections to his laying hens. He has lost many birds to mites killing them by crawling up their nostrils, which is very close to their brains. The mites will literally eat the chicken's brain until it dies.

He believes the extreme and prolonged heat this summer has something to do with it.

One of them Brain-eating amoeba's got in my head
and the poor thing starved to death.

1. Brain-eating amoeba in metro New Orleans tap water ...
   
   fellowshipoftheminds.com/.../brain-eating-amoeba-in-new-orleans-tap-w...
   
   Sep 18, 2013 -Tests show the bacteria is present throughout the water supply ... That brain eating amoeba must have infested the waters of the Potomac . . .

Climate Change and European Marine Ecosystem Research, a group of 17 European marine institutes, produced a 200-page report in 2011 that drew connections between climate change, the increasingly warm ocean waters, and the spread of water-dwelling bacteria. The report predicted millions in future healthcare and environmental costs as a result of exposure to contaminated food by humans and marine animals. Researchers focused primarily on bacteria from the genus of Vibrio, which they considered to be by far the most dangerous, causing gastroenteritis, septicemia, and cholera.


http://thinkprogress.org/health/2014...r-experts-say/


@ http://www.alipac.us/f19/flesh-eatin...waters-308433/

http://www.alipac.us/f19/lake-erie-a...idents-308704/

http://www.alipac.us/f19/five-diseas...und-us-312254/

7/25/15

http://www.alipac.us/f19/fatal-brain...ern-us-321552/