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A swimmer known to have been in Lake Murray near Ardmore, Oklahoma became ill and was hospitalized. That person, identified only as an adult, died Wednesday.
Even the name sounds ominous -- the Naegleria fowleri amoeba.
The tiny organism infects people when "contaminated water enters the body through the nose." The CDC writes, "Once the ameba enters the nose, it travels to the brain where it causes primary amebic meningoencephalitis, which is usually fatal."
In short, the amoeba feeds on the brain, destroying it.
A news release went on to explain, "These disease-causing organisms are naturally present in most lakes, ponds, and rivers but multiply rapidly in very warm and stagnant water. Persons may be exposed to Naegleria fowleri amoeba when they dive or submerge their head in contaminated water."
A CDC report downplays the risk of having a problem.
“There have been 35 reported infections in the U.S. in the 10 years from 2005 to 2014, despite hundreds of millions of recreational water exposures each year,” it begins. “By comparison, in the 10 years from 2001 to 2010, there were more than 34,000 drowning deaths in the United States.”
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