Naegleria fowleri

1
Naegleria fowleri

• The brain-eating Amoeba
• By Andrew Borrell

2
Backround Information

• Naegleria fowleri name of pathogen to be
  discussed
• Primary amoebic meningoencephalitis (PAM) name
  of disease

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Killer in the Lake

• Sept. 8th, David Evans and family visit a local
  lake.
• Sept. 17th, his son Aaron dies due to unknown
  causes.
• After testing, culprit discovered to be N. fowleri

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N. fowleri Overview

• Fresh water habitat
• Heat loving
• Enters through nose
• Attacks nervous tissue

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Symptoms of Infection

• Early
• Headache
• Fever
• Nausea
• Vomiting
• Stiff neck

• Later
• Lack of attention
• Seizures
• Confusion
• Hallucination

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Recent Occurrences

• Usually isolated to southern states
• 1995 2004 23 cases
• 2007 6 deaths
• Mainly targets boys

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Possible ways to avoid Infection

• Avoid warm, shallow, fresh water
• Pinch nose shut or use nose plugs while
  diving/swimming
• Avoid disturbing sediment
• Keep swimming pools well chlorinated

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N. fowleri and Climate Change

• Recent spike in N. fowleri infections may be
  related to global warming
• Higher temperatures beneficial to heat loving
  amoeba
• Hot temperatures may cause more people to go
  swimming

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Sources

• http//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070929/ap_on_he_me/ki
  ller_amoeba
• http//www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dpd/parasites/naegleria/
  factsht_naegleria.htm - how_infected
• http//www.med.kurume-u.ac.jp/med/para/japanese/97
  06nf.html
• http//www.stanford.edu/class/humbio103/ParaSites2
  004/N.20Fowleri/life20cycle2020morphology.htm