Iowa beach brain-eating amoeba

A man is in intensive care and an Iowa beach is temporarily closed while health officials seek the cause of his infection with a rarely contracted, ...

A Missouri resident is in the intensive care unit with primary amebic meningoencephalitis, or PAM, after swimming in Lake of Three Fires in Taylor County, ...

The following month, a child in Arlington, Texas, died after he was infected with the amoeba at a splash pad. Officials are warning swimmers to contact their doctor if they feel severe headache, fever, nausea, vomiting or a stiff neck after entering a warm body of water. "It’s strongly believed by public health experts that the lake is a likely source, but we are not limiting the investigation to that source because it hasn’t been confirmed.

The beach at Lake of Three Fires in Iowa is temporarily closed after the life-threatening infection was confirmed in an individual who went swimming.

The only guaranteed way to avoid brain-eating amoeba infections is to refrain from participating in water-related activities in warm freshwater. Symptoms of brain-eating amoeba generally start one to nine days after nasal exposure and many people die within 18 days of showing symptoms, according to the CDC. These include severe headaches, fever, nausea and vomiting in the first stage and stiff neck, seizures, altered mental status, hallucinations and a coma in the second stage. Brain-eating amoeba is most commonly found in warm fresh waters such as lakes, rivers and hot springs.

A beach in Iowa has closed after a resident confirmed a brain infection after their swim, so what are the symptoms and how common is it?

Thankfully, infections are rare – only 154 known cases have been identified in the US since 1962. The organism cannot live in saltwater. Infection cannot occur by drinking contaminated water and there is no evidence to prove spreading via aerosol droplets or water vapour.

A beach in Iowa is closed after a rare life-threatening infection of the brain was confirmed in a visitor who recently went swimming there.

the rare brain-eating amoeba at a city splash pad. The infection isn't contagious and can't be caused by swallowing contaminated water. "PAM is extremely rare.

Its name alone is terrifying. But infections in humans are both rare and devastating. Here are five things to know about the microscopic brain-eating amoeba ...

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Health officials officials are testing the water in a southwest Iowa lake for a brain-eating amoeba after a Missouri resident was infected last week.

“The Iowa Department of Health and Human Services is working closely with the Department of Natural Resources to share information about this rare infection and will provide additional updates as test results become available.” The patient is currently in the intensive care unit at a Missouri hospital. “No additional suspected cases of PAM are currently being investigated in Missouri or Iowa.”