A rare brain-eating amoeba has been reported to be found in Florida’s water bodies, causing authorities to issue an alert about the same. This was found after a man from Hillsborough County was reported to have caught the infection. This amoeba, called Naegleria fowleri, is single-celled but has the ability to cause an infection of the brain, and is usually fatal. It is usually found in freshwater bodies like lakes, rivers, ponds, and canals.
The officials have issued an alert to people in the region, instructing them to refrain from having nasal contact with the water in these places. The symptoms that are usually exhibited by those who have been infected include fever, nausea, and vomiting, as well as a stiff neck and headaches. Most die within a week. The authorities have advised the locals to seek immediate medical help if they display these symptoms.
Infections are typically seen in southern US states. They are rare in Florida, where only 37 cases have been reported since 1962. Between 2009 and 2018, only 34 infections were reported in the country. Of those cases, 30 people were infected by recreational water, three after performing nasal irrigation with contaminated tap water, and one person was infected by contaminated tap water used on a backyard slip-n-slide, as reported by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
Meanwhile, Florida has recorded over 200,000 coronavirus cases with deaths crossing 3730. The overall coronavirus cases recorded in the USA are around 2.9 million, with the death toll at 1, 32, 000.