Health officials in Florida have raised the alarm over the discovery of a rare brain-eating amoeba in the county that encompasses Tampa and several other cities. The Florida Department of Health announced on Friday the news that a person in Hillsborough County had suffered a confirmed infection of naegleria fowleri, a single-celled live amoeba that can lead to a dangerous brain infection called primary amoebic meningoencephalitis. Such an infection “destroys brain tissue and is generally fatal,” health officials warned. The amoeba is generally found in lakes, rivers, and ponds, particularly when the water is warm. There have only been 37 confirmed cases of the amoeba since 1962, and health officials say the best way to prevent an infection is to “avoid nasal contact with the waters, as the amoeba enters the nostrils.” Of the 143 documented cases of brain infection caused by naegleria fowleri in the U.S., only four people have survived.
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