Florida officials found a case of a rare, brain-eating amoeba in Hillsborough County on Friday. Of the 138 people who were infected, only four survived, putting the infection's fatality rate at 98 percent.

The state's health department announced the confirmed case of Naegleria fowleri. Officials did not disclose the identity of the patient or where the water body involved in the disease, Tampa Bay Times reported.

In 2016, Sebastian DeLeon, 16, reportedly survived weeks after he contracted an infection from the parasite. According to an article by CNN, DeLeon suffered from a severe headache while on vacation with his family in Florida. The pain became intolerable that the teen couldn't bear people touching him.

DeLeon's family rushed him to the Florida Hospital for Children, where doctors were knowledgeable about the brain-eating amoeba. The ER doctor, Dr Dennis Hernandez, immediately took a sample of the victim's cerebral spinal fluid. The samples came back positive for Naegleria fowleri.

The Health Department said the teen caught the infection while swimming in a Broward County private property. The pediatric infectious disease doctors placed deLeon on a breathing tube and a drug-induced coma. They injected him with miltefosine, an anti-parasitic, and ran tests daily in hopes of getting a negative result. Three days after the treatment, the 16-year-old tested negative for the amoeba.

Three other people were reported to have been infected with Naegleria fowleri in 2016. Only DeLeon survived.

What is the Naegleria fowleri?

In 1965, Drs. M. Fowler and R. Carter discovered the rare organism in Australia. Their discovery was ground-breaking. It highlighted the parasite's ability to live freely and within a human host.

The amoeba is typically found in warm water bodies such as lakes, rivers, and hot springs. They can also be found in warm pools that are poorly chlorinated. It can live in temperatures as high as 115 degrees Fahrenheit.

People cannot contract the infection by swallowing water. Infections happen once the parasite forcibly goes up the nose and enters the brain. The amoeba immediately begins to consume the brain cells and tissue. The parasite causes brain swelling, and, in nearly all cases, death.

What are the symptoms of brain-eating amoebas?

Initially, symptoms may include:

  • Changes in smell and taste

  • Headache

  • Fever

  • Nausea

  • Vomiting

Some report confusion and seizures that worsens over the next three to seven days. Symptoms may start a day to a week after exposure. Death usually occurs 7 to 14 days after infection.

Diagnosis and Prevention

Doctors often examine the cerebrospinal fluid of a patient using microscopic visualization and specialized culture techniques. Younger victims frequently seek medical attention quickly.

Those who are alive when they were diagnosed have an advanced case of the disease that extensive treatment and other measures rarely boost their survival rate. However, most are diagnosed after an autopsy has been performed, MedicineNet reports.

Experts say abstaining from water-related activities is the best way to avoid getting infected Naegleria infections. Other ways to prevent infection include:

  • Avoiding still, warm and salty water

  • Avoiding jumping or diving into warm water with loose bottom sediments

  • Wearing a nose clip when jumping or diving into warm bodies of water or pools.


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