A person in Georgia dies from a brain-eating amoeba after swimming in a freshwater lake, becoming the second US victim in two weeks
A person in Georgia has died from a deadly brain-eating amoeba, health officials say, marking the second death in two weeks.
The individual, who has not been identified, is believed to have caught Naegleria fowleri after swimming in a freshwater lake or pond.
The Georgia Department of Health revealed the case over the weekend and advises people to avoid swimming in warm water.
It comes just weeks after a two-year-old boy died after contracting a deadly brain-eating amoeba while swimming in Nevada.
Doctors say cases of the disease have “increased significantly” in the past four to five years as warmer temperatures warm stagnant bodies of water where amoebas thrive.
The individual is believed to have caught Naegleria fowleri after taking a dip in a freshwater lake or pond in the state.
It was not clear where the individual had been swimming before he was diagnosed with the disease.
There are more than 30 lakes in Georgia, with the most popular, Lake Lanier in the north of the state, receiving up to 11 million visitors each year.
The case marks the sixth detected in the state since 1962 and the second in two weeks. Two-year-old Woodrow Bundy died on July 20 after contracting the disease while swimming in a lake in Nevada.
Warning that the disease is becoming more common, said Dr. Dennis Kyle, head of cell biology at the University of Georgia. FOX8: ‘We are experiencing warmer temperatures, and these amoebas are thermotolerant… so the number of amoebas will be higher.
“Warmer weather means, yes, more exposure and more cases.”
He added that in the last four or five years the number of reported cases had “increased significantly.”
Naegleria fowleri are tiny, single-celled organisms found in warm freshwater, such as lakes and rivers. They cannot survive in salt water and are not transmitted from person to person.
The amoeba typically enters through the nose and travels through the sinuses to the brain, where it triggers primary amebic meningoencephalitis, a rare and usually fatal brain infection.
It spreads along the nerves to the brain, where it multiplies and destroys tissue, causing the brain to swell.
In the early stages, patients initially experience headache, fever, nausea, and vomiting, but days and weeks later they may also experience hallucinations and seizures.
Only five people out of more than 150 who contracted the microscopic virus in the US between 1962 and 2023 survived.
It comes after little boy Woodrow died after contracting a deadly brain-eating amoeba while swimming in Nevada.
The image above shows how a Naegleria fowleri infection is triggered and how the disease spreads to the brain.
His mother, Briana Bundy, announced the two-year-old’s death in a Facebook post Tuesday.
She wrote: ‘Woodrow Turner Bundy returned victorious to our father in heaven at 2:56 am.
“He is my hero and I will always be grateful to God for giving me the best baby on earth, and I am grateful to know that one day I will have that child in heaven.”
Woodrow died on July 19 of infection caused by Naegleria fowleri, which is fatal in almost all cases. Only a handful of Americans have ever survived.
