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Authorities reported Wednesday that a Texan resident contracted a disease caused by a brain-eating amoeba and died shortly thereafter.
The swimmer developed a amebic meningitis infection, caused by Naegleria fowlerimore commonly known as the brain-eating amoeba, after swimming in Lyndon B. Johnson Lake in August, according to Austin Public Health.
Authorities have not publicly identified the victim.
A sample from the case was sent to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, authorities said.
Naegleria fowleri is a single-celled organism that lives in warm, fresh water, which enters the body through the nose and travels to the brain. It can cause primary amebic meningoencephalitis, a brain infection that destroys brain tissue and is almost always fatal.
According to the CDC, only 157 cases were reported between 1962 and 2022 and only four of the patients survived in that period.
The agency said that in the US, most infections have been linked to swimming in the southern states. According to local officials, 39 cases of primary amebic meningoencephalitis have been identified in Texas between 1962 and 2002.
The infection usually occurs in children under the age of 14, according to data from the CDC.
This year there have been several deaths associated with Naegleria fowleri, including a Georgia resident and a child in Nevada. Both victims died in July. The Florida Department of Health also reported an infection in March.
Symptoms begin between one and 12 days after swimming or having any type of nasal exposure to water containing Naegleria fowleri, and people die between one and 18 days after symptoms begin.
Signs of infection include nausea, vomiting, fever, severe headache, stiff neck, seizures, altered mental status, and hallucinations. Some infected may go into a coma.
People who choose to swim can reduce their risk of infection by limiting the amount of water that goes up their noses. The CDC recommends not jumping or diving into bodies of fresh water, as well as covering your nose and keeping your head out of the water.
People should also avoid digging or stirring up sediment in shallow, warm freshwater. Amoebas are most likely to live in sediments at the bottom of lakes, ponds, and rivers.
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