A parasite which causes a deadly “brain-eating” infection has been found in Louisiana’s mains water supply after the death of a four-year-old boy in his own back garden.
Residents in the parish of St Bernard, near New Orleans, have been issued with a warning along with a list of precautions that must be taken before they can drink water from the tap.
The southern state’s Department for Health and Hospitals issued a statement confirming that “the encephalitis death of a child that had visited St. Bernard Parish was connected to the rare amoeba, which testing confirmed was present at the home”.
The amoeba – Naegleria fowleri – enters the brain via contaminated water which is inhaled through the nose, leading to an infection which destroys brain tissue.
The US’s centre for disease control said the initial symptoms include headache, fever, nausea, vomiting, and stiff neck. Later symptoms include confusion, lack of attention to people and surroundings, loss of balance, seizures, and hallucinations. After the start of symptoms, the disease progresses rapidly and usually causes death in “one to 12 days”. » | Adam Withnall | Monday, September 16, 2013
