New drama in Florida. An American infected with a so-called "brain-eating" amoeba died in Florida on Thursday, March 2, reports BFM. The Charlotte County Health Department didn't give the sex or age of the victim but stressed the rarity of such a tragedy. The man was infected after rinsing his nose with tap water on February 23, a statement from the local Health Department said.
Jae Williams, spokesperson for the local health department, said "an epidemiological investigation [was] underway to understand the unique circumstances of this infection." Health authorities insist that "infection with Naegleria fowleri is rare and can only occur if water containing the amoeba enters the body through the nose. You can't be contaminated by drinking tap water." The gastric juices are in fact responsible for destroying the microorganism when it is swallowed by the mouth.
Authorities therefore recommend sticking to distilled or sterilized water for sinus cleansing or boiling tap water.
In 2022, a teenager living in Florida was infected with the parasite. If he manages to recover, he would be only the fifth person to survive an amoeba infection, which has a 97% fatality rate, according to CBS News.
The amoeba is not present in Europe. It grows primarily in humid climates in warm regions of the globe, including Southeast Asia, Southeast and West Africa, Central America, and South America, where weather conditions hygiene the precariousness or absence of wastewater treatment systems promotes the circulation and transmission of the parasite. In France, only one case was identified in 2008. It was a 9-year-old child who died suddenly shortly after bathing in a pool fed by a hot spring in Guadeloupe.
