amoeba

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Visitor to Iowa Infected by 'Worst Parasite in the World'

Health officials testing lake in Taylor County after Missouri resident infected by brain-eating amoeba

(Newser) - A lake beach in southwest Iowa has been temporarily shuttered after a visitor from a neighboring state was infected by a rare but dangerous brain-eating amoeba. A Friday release from the Iowa Department of Public Health notes that the beach at Lake of Three Fires State Park is currently off-limits...

Brain-Eating Amoeba Infection Kills California Boy

It's only the 10th case in the state since 1971

(Newser) - A young boy in California has died after becoming infected with a brain-eating amoeba while swimming last month. David Pruitt, 7, contracted primary amoebic meningoencephalitis—PAM—from a lake in Tehama County in Northern California, the Los Angeles Times reports. The specific lake hasn't been named. The illness is...

They Showered in Contact Lenses, Then Lost Vision

Two cases highlights risks to wearers

(Newser) - A scary reminder to wearers of contacts to take them out before showering or swimming. Two UK patients were left legally blind in one eye after contracting a rare parasitic eye infection linked to water, reports Live Science . A 41-year-old woman described two months of pain, blurry vision, and light...

Mom Finds Poignant Note From Her Dead 6-Year-Old
Mom Finds Poignant Note From Her Dead 6-Year-Old
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Oct 4, 2015 11:07 AM CDT

Mom Finds Poignant Note From Her Dead 6-Year-Old

'We have no idea when he wrote it,' his mom says

(Newser) - Like many 6-year-olds, Leland Shoemake loved getting dirty. He also loved history, Steven Spielberg, and Adam Sandler. But "the one thing he loved most was playing in the dirt," his mother, Amber Shoemake, writes on Facebook . "I never imagined that would be the thing that would take...

La. Parish's Water Invaded Again by Brain-Eating Amoeba

Officials warn residents in St. Bernard Parish not to get water up their noses

(Newser) - Residents in Louisiana's St. Bernard Parish had to deal with a nasty brain-eating amoeba in their water supply last summer—and now the amoeba has made a return appearance. Water in the parish right outside New Orleans has tested positive for Naegleria fowleri, and officials say the state's...

Brain-Eating Amoeba Kills Woman, 21

CDC warns against warm, still water

(Newser) - It started with a headache about two weeks ago. But a 21-year-old California woman soon began vomiting, and after being unable to shake the symptoms within a day, went to the hospital on June 17. Officials say she's now dead, having succumbed to a rare infection caused by a...

Brain-Eating Amoeba Found Lurking in La. Water System

Officials tell residents water is OK to drink, but not to get it in their noses

(Newser) - Residents of a Louisiana parish have been warned that there's an unwelcome visitor in their water supply. Routine samples taken from St. John the Baptist Parish's Water District No. 1—which provides water to more than 12,500 people—tested positive for Naegleria fowleri, a brain-eating amoeba that...

Boy, 12, Loses Battle With Brain-Eating Amoeba

Zachary Reyna will be taken off life-support after days of no brain activity

(Newser) - Zachary Reyna, the 12-year-old Florida boy who was battling a brain-eating amoeba , has "passed," according to his family, and will be taken off life support later today. Reyna has shown negative brain activity for days, but is being kept on a ventilator so his organs can be donated,...

Brain-Eating Amoeba Victim Gives Doctors Thumbs Up

Kali Hardig is recovering from infection in Arkansas

(Newser) - An Arkansas girl infected with a brain-eating amoeba is getting better and may be the third person ever to survive the experience, NBC News reports. Kali Hardig, 12, was infected with the amoeba after swimming in a Little Rock, Ark., lake last month. Luckily, her mother saw she was badly...

2nd Child Battling 'Brain-Eating' Amoeba

Zachary Reyna was likely infected while kneeboarding with friends

(Newser) - A second 12-year-old is now battling a brain-eating parasite in the Southeast. NBC2 reports that Zachary Reyna was likely infected by Naegleria fowleri, a microscopic amoeba that gets to the brain through the nose, while kneeboarding with friends in a ditch in LaBelle, Florida, on Aug. 3. The amoeba lurks...

Girl, 12, Battles Brain-Eating Amoeba After Lake Swim

Kali Hardig in critical condition in Arkansas

(Newser) - Kali Hardig, 12, went swimming in a Little Rock, Ark., lake earlier this month—and, in a nightmare scenario, she's now battling a brain-eating parasite . Naegleria fowleri is a microscopic amoeba that gets to the brain through the nose, typically infecting people who go swimming in freshwater, CNN reports....

Biggest Virus Ever Found Off Chile

'Megavirus' likely only infects amoebas

(Newser) - Ocean water off the coast of Chile has yielded the biggest virus ever discovered. Megavirus chilensis is up to 20 times wider than the average virus and is bigger than many bacteria. Megavirus, like all other viruses, infects the cells of living organisms to replicate itself—but humans don't...

3rd Death Linked to Brain-Eating Amoeba

No swimming involved in this one

(Newser) - And yesterday's terrifying brain-eating amoeba story gets more terrifying: A third death from earlier this year has been linked to the amoeba. A 20-something in Louisiana died in June after using tap water in a neti pot, a small container used to rinse out the nose and sinuses. He...

Brain-Eating Amoeba Kills Second Child

Rare parasite found in stagnant freshwater

(Newser) - The waterborne parasite known as the "brain-eating amoeba" is as bad as it sounds and it has caused the deaths of at least two young people this month. The rare but extremely deadly parasite that causes amoebic meningoencephalitis, an infection that attacks the brain and spine, can be found...

6 Die From Brain-Eating Amoeba
6 Die From Brain-Eating Amoeba 
Sep 29, 2007 12:09 PM CDT

6 Die From Brain-Eating Amoeba

Global warming may make cases more common

(Newser) - It's an ominous name—Naegleria fowleri. And it's a more ominous creature, a waterborne amoeba that enters a swimmer's nose, latches onto the olfactory nerve, and travels to the brain, where it feeds until its victim dies. A 14-year-old Arizona boy died this month from Naegleria—one of six US...

15 Stories