He likely died of a rare infection caused by a brain-eating amoeba after swimming in a river in eastern Nebraska, health officials say,in the Midwest. This is the second such possible death this summer raising the question of whether climate change is playing a role.
Omaha, Nebraska Douglas County Department of Health said Wednesday that doctors diagnosed a child with primary amebic meningoencephalitis. reported that he believed he was dead. Naegleria fowleri is a usually fatal infection caused by the amoeba. Health officials believe the child came into contact with the amoeba while swimming in the Elkhorn River just west of Omaha on Sunday.
Authorities have not released the child's identity.
Last month, a Missouri resident died in Lake Three Fires in southwestern Iowa from the same infection, likely caused by an amoeba. Iowa officials closed the lake's beaches for nearly three weeks as a precaution.
Infection is usually caused by swimming or jumping into lakes or rivers in water containing amoebas and entering the body through the nose. Other sources have been documented, including contaminated tap water in Houston-area cities in 2020. Symptoms include fever, headache, nausea or vomiting, progression to stiff neck, loss of balance, hallucinations and seizures.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Naegleria fowleri infections are rare, with about three cases each year in the United States, but these infections are overwhelmingly fatal.
The United States reported 154 cases between 1962 and 2021, with only four survivors, according to the CDC. Of those, 71 cases were reported between 2000 and 2021. Texas and Florida recorded the most infections with 39 and 37 cases, respectively. Amoebas are usually found in southern states because they thrive in waters warmer than 86 degrees Fahrenheit (30 degrees Celsius). ).
But infections have moved north in recent years, including his two cases in Minnesota since 2010, Douglas County Health Commissioner Dr. Lindsey Hughes said at a news conference Thursday. It pointed out.
"Our area is getting warmer," she said. "We find that when things warm, water warms, and water levels drop due to drought, this organism is happier and thrives more commonly in those conditions."
National According to the Water Information System, the surface water temperature near where the child was swimming was 86-92 degrees.
Jacob Brorenzo Morales, a researcher at the University of La Laguna in the Canary Islands who studies Naegleria fouleri, said Thursday that the increase in infections since 2000 he blames two factors. said it can. Rising temperatures in waters that provide a "perfect environment" for amoebas to thrive.
Sutherland Masiver, a researcher studying amoebas at the Center for Discovery and Brain Sciences at Edinburgh Medical College in Scotland, said that not all infections have been reported and that there have been so far reported worldwide. Her 430 cases are almost certainly undercounted. And scientists cannot say with certainty that the Nebraska case is directly attributable to climate change. I co-authored a paper titled ? We examined the factors behind the increase in reported cases.
Health officials advise freshwater swimmers to cover their noses, keep their heads out of the water, and avoid activities such as water skiing and tubing that can push water into their noses, eyes and mouths. Avoiding activities is recommended. Drinking contaminated water will not infect you.
