Brain-Eating Amoeba Found In Louisiana Water System

HOUMA, LA (CBS Local) – A potentially deadly brain-eating amoeba has been found again in Terrebonne Parish, Louisiana. Independent testing returned positive results for Naegleria fowleri, which causes fatal brain swelling and tissue destruction, in the community of Pointe-aux-Chenes, according to WWL-TV, as well as The Courier.

A brain-eating amoeba has been detected in the Louisiana water system It is the third time since 2015 that the potentially deadly organism has been found in the state The amoeba can cause brain swelling and seizures according to the CDC

The Terrebonne Consolidated Waterworks District issued the notification Sunday and has temporarily switched to a different disinfectant to kill the organism.

Despite the Louisiana heat, residents are ignoring their swimming pools and nearby bayous. They’re terrified of something they can’t see but that officials warn is present.

“It kinda freaks me out because this is my home, I can’t do what I usually do,” said Lindsey Dupre, WWL-TV reports. “I want to know I’m secure rather than freak out over an amoeba.”

This marks the third time the amoeba has been detected in the water since 2015. Last June, Terrebonne Parish’s water system tested positive for the amoeba in Isle de Jean Charles, where it had also been found three years ago. It impacts all fresh water sources ranging from drinking water to pool water to water used for showers.

“Normally we see this amoeba in surface water when people go swimming and they get it way up in their sinuses and they’ll get an infection,” said Jimmy Guidry, Louisiana Department of Health’s medical director. “They’ll start getting symptoms that are similar to meningitis.”

Consolidated Waterworks’ general manager, Mike Sobert, said it began using a 60-day pure chlorine wash on Friday to kill the microbes. It will test the water in two weeks to ensure it’s eradicated. Sobert said the agency had planned to temporarily switch to the pure chlorine for the summer, which has been its practice for the past three years.

Most infections occur during the summer months in southern-tier states because the organism thrives in warmer waters, but it can also occur in northern regions as well, the CDC says.

An infection from the organism is rare, but it is almost always deadly, Guidry said. From 1962 to 2016, there were 143 reported cases, out which only four people survived. In Louisiana, two residents died in 2011 after using neti pots to rinse out their noses, and a 4-year-old boy died in 2013 after spending hours playing in a Slip ‘N Slide in hot and muddy conditions.

“It’s not just getting water in your nose, it’s getting water way up in your nose where the water burns,” said Guidry, explaining that almost everyone who swims in public waters is exposed to the microbe, but very few get infections.

The onset of the disease typically begins within five days and includes symptoms such as headaches, fever, and nausea. Later symptoms include hallucinations, loss of balance, and seizures, according to the CDC.

To prevent an infection, the CDC advises to prevent from water going up the nose during showers or when washing your face, to avoid submerging your head under water when bathing, to supervise children playing with sprinklers or hoses and to avoid Slip ‘N Slides and other activities that make it hard to stop water from going into the nasal cavity.

The Lafourche Parish Water District also advises residents in the Marydale neighborhood, Grand Bois community, and the Romero area to follow the same guidelines because it purchases water from Terrebonne Parish Consolidated Waterworks to service them.

Legend of Wooley Swamp
Charlie Daniels

If you ever go back into Wooley Swamp son you better not go at night
There’s things out there in the middle of them woods
That’d make a strong man die from fright
There’s things that crawl and things that fly
And things that creep around on the ground
And they say the ghost of Lucias Clay gets up and it walks around.

The old man lived in the Wooley Swamp way back in the gurgling woods
And he never did do a lot of harm in the world
But he never did do no good
People didn’t think too much of him
They all thought he acted funny
The old man didn’t care about people anyway
All he cared about was his money.
He’d stuff it all down in mason jars and bury it all around
But on certain nights if the moon was right
He’d dig it up out of the ground.
He’d pour it all out on the floor of his shack
And run his fingers through it.
Old Lucias Clay was a greedy old man
And that’s all there ever was to it.

The Crayton boys were white trash, they lived over on Parvis Creek
They were a real snake and sneaky as a cat
And belligerent when they’d speak.
One night the oldest brother said y’all meet in the Wooley Swamp later
We’ll get old Lucias’ money and we’ll pitch him to the alligators.
They found the old man out in the back with a shovel in his hand
And thirteen rusty mason jars he just dug up out of the sand.
And they all went crazy and they beat the old man
Then they picked him up off the ground
Then they threw him in the swamp and they stood there and laughed
Till the black water sucked him down.
Then they turned around and went back to the shack
And they picked up the money and ran.
But they hadn’t gone nowhere when they realized
They were running in quicksand.
And they struggled and screamed but they couldn’t get away
Then just before they were gone
They could hear that old man laughing
In a voice that was loud and strong.
Now that’s been fifty years ago and if you go back by there again
There’s a spot in the yard in back of that shack
Where the ground is always wet.
And on certain nights if the moon is right
And you’re down by the dark footpath
You can hear three young men screaming
And you can hear that old man laugh.
If you ever go back into Wooley Swamp son you better not go at night
There’s things out there in the middle of them woods
That’d make a strong man die from fright
There’s things that crawl and things that fly
And things that creep around on the ground
And they say the ghost of Lucias Clay gets up and it walks around.

But I couldn’t believe it, I just had to find out for myself
And I couldn’t conceive it, I never would listen to nobody else
No I couldn’t believe it, I just had to find out for myself
That there’s some things in this world you just can’t explain.
The old man lived in the Wooley Swamp way back in the gurgling woods
And he never did do a lot of harm in the world
But he never did do no good
People didn’t think too much of him
They all thought he acted funny
The old man didn’t care about people anyway
All he cared about was his money.
He’d stuff it all down in mason jars and bury it all around
But on certain nights if the moon was right
He’d dig it up out of the ground.
He’d pour it all out on the floor of his shack
And run his fingers through it.
Old Lucias Clay was a greedy old man
And that’s all there ever was to it.

Songwriters: Charles Fred Hayward / Charlie Daniels / Fred Edwards / James W. Marshall / John Crain / William J. Digregorio
Legend of Wooley Swamp lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group

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