A woman in Texas died from a brain-eating infection she is believed to have contracted from tap water.
The unnamed female, aged 71, was killed by the amoeba – a single-celled organism last year.
The county health department said that the person likely got infected when they rinsed their sinuses with tap water from an RV’s water system at a campground.
The Texas Department of State Health Services said tap water in the area is still safe to drink as the amoeba is rare and can only infect humans through the nose.
However, experts say that the case ‘reinforces the potential for serious health risks associated with improper use of nasal irrigation devices, as well as the importance of maintaining RV water quality and ensuring that municipal water systems adhere to regulatory standards.’
The US only suffers a handful of deaths from brain-eating amoeba each year, usually among people swimming in warm water lakes and rivers.
The frighteningly lethal amoeba – known as Naegleria fowleri – kills 97 percent of the people it infects. Only a handful of Americans have ever survived the infection.
The Texas health department said that the person likely got infected when they rinsed their sinuses with tap water from an RV’s water system at a campground
Texas is among the states that have suffered the largest burden of brain-eating amoeba cases, with 39 of around 160 recorded in the US all-time in the Lone Star state.
The amoeba causes a disease called primary amoebic meningoencephalitis, also known as PAM or amebic meningitis.
It thrives in warm water.
Initial symptoms include a headache, vomiting and nausea. A person can then suffer cognitive issues and a stuff neck as things progress.
It causes severe swelling, and eventually rotting, of the brain and spinal cord. This will almost always eventually lead to death.
There are no known effective treatments for PAM.
In the recent Texas case, the woman developed severe neurologic symptoms, including fever, headache, and altered mental status within four days of using a nasal irrigation device filled with the compromised tap water.
Despite medical treatment, the patient developed seizures and subsequently died eight days after symptom onset.
Laboratory testing at CDC confirmed the presence of N. fowleri in the patient’s brain and spinal fluid.
Sinus rinsing is a practice where a person flows water into their nose through one nostril and out the other – in an attempt to clean mucus and other debris.
Local officials advise residents to boil water for at least one minute before using it to wash their noses to kill any lingering bacteria or harmful chemicals.
They also say not to allow water into your nose when showering, bathing, swimming, or in a blow-up pool, not to put your head underwater in the tub, to avoid letting children play with sprinklers while unsupervised and the avoid slip-and-slides.
This is not the first recent case potentially tied to water systems.
In 2020, a six-year-old boy in Lake Jackson, Texas died from Naegleria fowleri.
Officials believe he was either infected while playing in a local splash pad or from a water hose at home.
And in 2023, a man in Charlotte County, Florida, died after nasal rinsing with tap water.
The amoeba, which is 1,200 times smaller than a dime, enters the body through the olfactory nerve which connects the upper nose to the brain.
This gives it a short and direct route into the brain. If water containing the amoeba enters the nose, it will likely lead to infection.
Ingesting water through the mouth is ok because stomach acid is strong enough to kill the amoeba. The nose is its only route.
Once a person’s olfactory nerve is exposed, it can take around one to nine days to start experiencing symptoms. They will usually die within five days of symptoms first appearing.
‘It’s quite rapid, it’s very progressive. It literally eats the brain tissue,’ Dr. Anjan Debnath, a parasitologist at the University of California San Diego, explained.
Because of the rare infection, doctors also often misdiagnose symptoms as meningitis – wasting valuable time that could be used to treat the parasite.
Caleb Ziegelbauer (pictured), 13, may become the fifth ever American to survive an infection from brain eating amoeba
He describes the infection as taking part in two stages. The first is relatively minor, with the person experiencing a headache and other flu-like symptoms.
This means that unless a doctor knows that a person has been swimming in untreated water they may not even suspect the amoeba.
Once symptoms reach the second stage, a person will start experiencing severe neurological issues like seizures.
A doctor will then likely find out about the infection through a spinal fluid test.
America suffers around three cases of the amoeba each year.
They will almost always occur over summer, when many families flock to local lakes and ponds for a daytime outing.
Dr Debnath still advises against swimming in untreated water over summer, especially in places like Florida and Texas where temperatures get exceptionally high.
Because the amoeba only resides in fresh water, swimming in the ocean is generally safe.
If families do choose to visit a freshwater beach, anyone entering the water should wear a nose clip to prevent water from entering their nose.
Dr Debnath also recommends against kicking up dirt or sand from the bottom of the lake as warmer areas deep down are where the microscopic beings usually lie.