Brain-Eating Microbe Found On US City

 

Texas, USA – Recently, the city of Texas has contracted a water contamination in their public water supply that is they found a “brain-eating microbe” or “naegleria fowleri” organism on the water and warned residents not to use the tap water at any way except only for flushing a toilet.

“Texas officials have warned residents of some communities near Houston to stop using tap water because it might be tainted with a deadly brain-eating microbe. The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality warned the Brazosport Water Authority late Friday of the potential contamination of its water supply by naegleria fowleri. The commission issued an advisory warning people not to use tap water for any reason except to flush toilets in Lake Jackson, Freeport, Angleton, Brazoria, Richwood, Oyster Creek, Clute and Rosenberg. Those communities are home to about 120,000 people. Also affected are the Dow Chemical works in Freeport, which has 4,200 employees, and the Clemens and Wayne Scott state prison units, which have 2,345 inmates and 655 employees.” (USA Today)

“Brain-eating microbe (brain-eating amoeba)” or “naegleria fowleri” can cause an infection to the brain and that infection is deadly once it enters one’s brain. According to the news, the microbe enters in the nose into the brain thus residents were asked not to make the water up on their nose while they are taking a bath. The organism according to the news is commonly found on warm freshwater and soil and if one is infected with it one will have what they called primary amoebic meningoencephalitis or an infection in the brain thus “brain-eating”. Actually, according to news, the organism eats bacteria but when it enters the human body it eats the brain.

“Naegleria fowleri is a free-living microscopic amoeba, or single-celled living organism commonly found in warm freshwater and soil, according to the U.S Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It usually infects people when contaminated water enters the body through the nose, from where it travels to the brain and can cause a rare and debilitating disease called primary amebic meningoencephalitis.”(USA Today)

The organism could also find on untreated swimming pools, untreated well water, hot springs, lakes, pond, aquariums, etc.

“The infection is usually fatal and typically occurs when people go swimming or diving in warm freshwater places such as lakes and rivers. In very rare instances, naegleria infections may also occur when contaminated water from other sources (such as inadequately chlorinated swimming pool water or heated and contaminated tap water) enters the nose.”(USA Today)

Symptoms of the disease include headache, fever, vomiting, hallucinations, seizures, etc. Person infected die within a week.

Contamination of United States public treated water system by a microbe, according to the news is rare so also infected people of the disease.

The main point : Water supply in one of the city in US, that is Texas is contaminated by a brain-eating amoeba or microbe or organism which could bring health threat namely of brain diseases.

Tap Water ( image from Business Insider website)