July 06, 2020

Anna Murray 

The Florida Department of Health (DOH) announced one resident in Hillsborough County had contracted Naegleria fowleri. Meanwhile, the DOH issued a warning to local residents of Hillsborough County on July 3 and urged them to avoid nasal contact with taps water and stay away from open water such as canals, lakes, ponds, and rivers.  <-- instagram

Health officials said commonly the amoeba enters through nasal passages. The microscopic single-celled amoeba can infect and destroy brain tissues, a rare infection of the brain called primary amebic mening oence phalitis (PAM) and is usually fatal. According to reported cases of the amoeba in Florida, there haveonlybeen37 infection cases since 1962.

According to health authorities, symptoms of primary amebic meningoencephalitis (PAM), the disease caused by the amoeba, include severe frontal headache, fever, nausea, seizures, hallucinations, and coma. Therefore, the DOH recommended local residents to avoid water-related activities in warm freshwater, in particular, during the warmer summer months of July, August, and September.