The Norwegian Institute of Public Health has been informed that a woman from Oslo died in December 2014 after returning from Thailand where she had been infected with the Naegleria fowleri amoeba.
“The source of infection appears to be daily nasal washing with tap water. If you are unsure about the water quality, always use sterile or boiled water for nasal washing, particularly in subtropical and tropical areas”, the institute said.
Thailand’s Bureau of General Communicable Diseases said between 1982 and 2013, there were 13 reported cases of primary amoebic menigoencephalitis (PAM) caused by Naegleria fowleri amoeba in Thailand. Only 8 were tested positive for Naegleria fowleri amoeba infection.
Swimming in warm, freshwater (lakes or rivers) in tropical and subtropical areas, where Naegleria fowleri amoeba exists, also poses a risk, according to a health warning issued by Thai health authorites in 2013.
Travel advice
Always use sterile or boiled water for nasal washing abroad if you are uncertain of the tap water quality, particularly when travelling to subtropical and tropical countries. Only use bottled water if you are sure it is distilled or sterile, unless the bottled water has been boiled.
About Naegleria fowleri
Naegleria fowleri is a free-living amoeba that can attack the brain via the nasal mucosa and the olfactory nerve. It is also known as the “the brain-eating amoeba.” The amoeba lives in freshwater and can reach the brain when contaminated water enters the nose.
The amoeba is usually transmitted when water enters the nose while swimming in lakes, rivers and unchlorinated swimming pools, but nasal washing with contaminated water is also a known risk factor.
Nasal washing is popular in yoga environments and is part of religious washing practices in many countries.
Symptoms appear within 1-7 days. The disease particularly affects young, healthy people causing severe meningoencephalitis, and it has a very high mortality. The disease is not transmitted by drinking contaminated water or spread by human to human contact. Boiling or chlorination of water kills the amoeba.
Naegleria infection is extremely rare, with just over 300 cases documented worldwide.
The amoeba thrives at high temperatures, especially between 25°C and 40°C and can survive for shorter periods at even higher temperatures.
International alert
The Thai health authorities have been made aware of the case and the assumed mode of transmission.
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Sources: Norwegian Institute of Public Health and Thailand’s Bureau of General Communicable Diseases
Are there herbs that kill Amebas
Can’t be true… just recently the Thai authorities said that now all tap water in the Kingdom is drinkable straight from the tap… And we all know that when these good people are saying so, then it is so!