Federal health officials reported on Friday that a Nebraska child who had recently swam in a river close to Omaha died from a rare infection brought on by a brain-eating amoeba.
According to the Douglas County Department of Health in Omaha, the naegleria fowleri amoeba was found in the youngster and was verified by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
A few miles west of Omaha, in the Elkhorn River, the kid is thought to have contracted the illness while swimming on Sunday. The name of the kid hasn’t been made public by the authorities.
When water carrying the amoeba enters the body through the nose when swimming or diving in lakes and rivers, people become infected. There have also been reports of other sources, such as contaminated tap water in a community near Houston in 2020.
This summer’s primary amebic meningoencephalitis, which has been lethal in 97% of documented cases, has claimed the lives of two people in the Midwest. Health officials have reported that a Missouri man who had been swimming in Lake of Three Fires in southwest Iowa in July passed away from the virus.
Fever, headache, nausea, or vomiting are some of the symptoms of the illness. Later on, a stiff neck, loss of balance, hallucinations, and seizures may also appear.
According to the CDC, there are just three instances of naegleria fowleri infections reported in the United States per year. In the U.S., 154 instances were documented between 1962 and 2021, but only four people survived. There have only ever been 430 instances reported worldwide.
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