Posted on 08/19/2015 1:07:25 PM PDT by george76
Haha! Thanks for the laugh!
August 14, 2015 — An amoeba kills a swimmer in Lake Murray, and after the 31-year-old man’s death on Wednesday .. on August 13, the State Department of Health reports that the adult swimmer died of Primary Amebic Meningoencephalitis (PAM) after “coming into contact with a rare amoeba” while swimming last week in Lake Murray, which is about 110 miles south of Oklahoma City.
However, Naegleria fowleri is not really “a rare amoeba,” and in order to save the life of others, much more awareness is needed. Naegleria fowleri is a single-cell organism that is naturally present in most lakes, ponds and rivers across the United States. Like many simple organisms, the amoeba multiplies rapidly in very warm and stagnant water.
In 2013, Kali, a 12-year-old girl from Arkansas, was believed to be one of only three people to survive the infection caused by Naegleria fowleri.
When the amoeba kills a swimmer, it happens more quickly than anyone would expect. “Initial symptoms of PAM start 1 to 7 days after infection.
The disease is rare, not the amoeba.
“Sounds like something out of a zombie movie. “
Or an episode of ‘House M.D.’, which it was.
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