Brain-Eating Amoeba Risk Shifts 8.3 Miles North Yearly as US Waters Warm
Updated
Updated · WRAL News · Aug 28
Brain-Eating Amoeba Risk Shifts 8.3 Miles North Yearly as US Waters Warm
2 articles · Updated · WRAL News · Aug 28
Summary
A North Carolina teenager is critically ill with primary amebic meningoencephalitis, a rare brain infection that scientists say may increasingly appear farther north and outside peak summer.
A 2021 CDC study of 85 recreational-water exposures found the northernmost location moved about 8.3 miles north per year from 1978 to 2018, with five of six Midwest exposures occurring after 2010.
The study found no significant rise in total U.S. cases—recreational-water infections still ranged from zero to six annually—but temperatures near exposure sites averaged 1.4F above the local 20-year norm in the prior two weeks.
Naegleria fowleri thrives in warm untreated freshwater and infects when contaminated water enters the nose, not when swallowed; the CDC has recorded 180 diagnosed U.S. cases since 1937, and the disease is almost always fatal.
Scientists say earlier spring warming, later fall warmth and more hot-weather swimming could widen the exposure window, prompting calls for stronger surveillance as climate patterns shift.