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A Missouri resident has died from a brain-eating amoeba infection after contracting the deadly parasite during recreational water activities, highlighting serious gaps in public health warnings about these lethal waterborne threats. Story Snapshot * Adult Missouri patient dies from rare Naegleria fowleri brain infection after Lake of the Ozarks waterskiing * Brain-eating amoeba has 97% fatality rate with only four survivors nationally since 1962 * Patient died within six days of hospitalization despite intensive care treatment * Health officials refuse to close recreational water sites despite deadly risk to families Deadly Parasite Claims Missouri Life An adult Missouri resident died...

Two people have died in Louisiana after contracting flesh-eating bacteria from raw oysters, and state officials warned of an increase in cases. The oysters were infected with Vibrio vulnificus, a type of bacteria found in coastal waters and peaking in May through October when temperatures are warmer. People can be sickened when eating raw or undercooked shellfish, especially oysters. This year, 17 cases of Vibrio vulnificus have been reported in Louisiana as of July 31, and four have died. Salmonella outbreak linked to recalled eggs; 95 sick since January “During the same time period over the previous 10 years, an...

Researchers have discovered that a natural molecule made by gut bacteria can reverse liver damage and repair the gut lining after aflatoxin exposure. The treatment may offer a new, non-toxic way to prevent and treat non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). The study revealed that 10-hydroxystearic acid (10-HSA), a compound produced by Lactobacillus bacteria, successfully restored gut-liver health in mice exposed to aflatoxin. Aflatoxin is a toxic substance made by mold commonly found in peanuts, corn and other crops. It is known to cause liver injury. "This is the first time a single microbial molecule has been shown to repair both...

A groundbreaking study published in PNAS has identified two gut bacteria as triggers for Multiple Sclerosis (“MS”).The study involved 81 pairs of identical twins, where only one sibling had MS, and found that these bacteria were consistently linked to MS.The researchers transplanted gut microbes from MS-affected twins into germ-free mice, which developed MS-like symptoms, establishing a causal link between the bacteria and the disease.A New Multiple Sclerosis Study Is Actually Ground-BreakingBy Dr. Jessica Rose, 29 July 2025A study was published on 21 April 2025 in PNAS entitled ‘Multiple sclerosis and gut microbiota: Lachnospiraceae from the ileum of MS twins trigger...

A type of flesh-eating bacteria has killed four people in Florida so far this year. The state’s health department confirmed the deaths in a notice posted on the Florida Health website. A total of 11 people have contracted the bacteria in 2025, according to the same source. Vibrio vulnificus is part of a wider group of Vibrio bacteria, which are found in coastal waters, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) states. This specific bacterium, Vibrio vulnificus, typically lives in warm, brackish seawater, and can enter open wounds when people are swimming. Another potential source of infection is...

Imagine living with a persistent, debilitating fatigue that no amount of rest can alleviate, coupled with a constellation of other symptoms such as brain fog, pain, and sleep disturbances. This is the reality for millions suffering from Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS). Now, envision a similar struggle following a viral infection, long COVID. Our recent review delves into a fascinating area that could hold a key: the intricate world of the gut microbiome and its profound influence on our health. For instance, studies in ME/CFS patients indicate changes in gut composition, including a deficiency in butyrate-producing bacteria and disturbances in...

A recent study involving 684 adults has uncovered a significant connection between gut microbiota, aging, and bone health, particularly in relation to osteoporosis. The study emphasized how gut bacteria may influence bone mineral density (BMD). The study revealed significant associations between microbial pathways related to L-arginine biosynthesis and butyrate production with higher BMD. L-arginine is an amino acid that is essential for nitric oxide (NO) production, which has been shown to inhibit osteoclast-mediated bone resorption, ultimately promoting bone health. These findings suggest that enhancing the production of L-arginine and butyrate through gut bacteria could be an important strategy in maintaining...

What if the breakthrough in battery recycling wasn’t high-tech—but prehistoric? The bacteria used by Cell Cycle thrive at body temperature. - Cell Cycle ================================================================== As the world braces for a flood of end-of-life lithium batteries from electric vehicles and electronics, recycling systems are struggling to keep pace. Current methods are often expensive, energy-intensive, and environmentally taxing. But a small UK startup believes the solution might lie in nature’s oldest engineers: bacteria that have been around for tens of millions of years. Cell Cycle, a startup under the SER Group, has developed a novel approach called LithiumCycle that uses engineered microbes...

Mariangela Hungria, a microbiologist in Brazil, spent decades looking for bacteria in the soil that could act like fertilizer, boosting farmers' harvests. But she faced a lot of skepticism. "When I started my career, everybody was like, 'You're crazy! You will never succeed. This will never be possible,'" she recalls. Today, her work was rewarded with the World Food Prize, which recognizes advances in agriculture and nutrition. Bestowed by the World Food Prize Foundation since 1987, it comes with a cash award of $500,000. Hungria has spent her entire career as a scientist with the Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation (EMBRAPA),...

Scientists could be on the verge of a medical breakthrough in understanding what's driving a rise in blood cancers among older adults. Research has long suggested that the colony of trillions of bacteria living in our digestive systems – known as the gut microbiome – could be the key to our overall health. The more diverse those microscopic colonies are, the better our immunity to a host of diseases from heart disease to dementia. But US researchers have now discovered that patients with leukemia — an aggressive form of blood cancer — have higher levels of one specific bacteria in...

The microbial community living within our large intestine is a highly dense and complex ecosystem. While some of these microbes cause illness and disease (such as bacteria and viruses), others are friendlier to us and help keep us in good health. Akkermansia muciniphila is one of these friendly bacteria. One of the important roles it plays in our gut is maintaining the function of our gut barrier. But when there's an imbalance of A. muciniphila in the gut, it can lead to problems with our health. This unusual bacteria lives in our large intestine and survives off of mucin—the layer...

Dying of dysentery is now more than just a video game meme in Oregon. In a disgusting turn of events straight out of the “Oregon Trail” game, the diarrhea-inducing malady dysentery is making a stomach-churning comeback in a densely populated region of the state. Cases of the hyper-contagious bacterial disease have surged in Multnomah County, with health officials reporting 40 cases of the wretched sickness in January, according to the Multnomah County Health Department, KOIN reported. The infection, also known as shigellosis, can spread through exposure with infected feces, contaminated food or water, or sexual contact – with person-to-person the...

Eating an orange a day may lower a person's depression risk by 20%, according to a study. That might be because citrus stimulates the growth of Faecalibacterium prausnitzii (F. prausnitzii), a type of bacteria found in the human gut, to influence production of the neurotransmitters serotonin and dopamine—two biological molecules known to elevate mood. We found that eating one medium orange a day may lower the risk of developing depression by about 20%. And the effect seems to be specific to citrus. When we look at people's total fruit or vegetable consumption, or at other individual fruits such as apples...

Bacillus subtilis bacteria with green fluorescence indicating a lack of magnesium. (Ashley Moon, Süel Lab, UC San Diego) New tactics in controlling infection are sorely needed, with antibiotic-resistant bacteria expected to claim as many as 2 million lives each year by 2050. US and Spanish researchers have now discovered at least some bacteria pay a steep price for their resistance – a cost that we may be able to exploit to fight infection. "We discovered an Achilles heel of antibiotic-resistant bacteria," says molecular biologist Gürol Süel from the University of California, San Diego. "We can take advantage of this cost...

A gruesome flesh-eating bacteria, thought to be transmitted by an iconic Aussie animal, is spreading in one state, and health experts warn “everyone” is at risk. Victoria’s Health Department released a grim alert on Friday for Buruli Ulcer, which is a bacterial skin infection that damages soft tissue and can cause serious disfigurements. “Lesions typically present as a slowly enlarging painless lump or wound which can initially be mistaken for an insect bite,” Victoria’s chief health officer Professor Ben Cowie said on Friday. “Case numbers so far this year are higher compared to previous years. “The disease is spreading geographically...

Cyanobacteria use an AM radio-like mechanism to regulate their genes, with the cell division cycle acting as a “carrier wave” and their circadian clock modulating the pulse strength to integrate signals from these two rhythms. This discovery explains how cells coordinate these oscillatory processes and may have applications in biotechnology and synthetic biology. Credit: SciTechDaily.com Cyanobacteria use an AM radio-like principle to coordinate cell division with circadian rhythms, encoding information through pulse amplitude modulation. Cyanobacteria, an ancient group of photosynthetic bacteria, have been discovered to regulate their genes using the same physics principle used in AM radio transmission. New research...

A new study has revealed that gut bacteria may play a key role in aging, and that specific microbes could be targeted to promote healthy aging. Aging is a complex, multi-factorial phenomenon with progressive decline in several physiological functions. As Singapore faces a rapidly growing aging population, researchers are seeking ways to understand the aging process and identify key lifestyle and dietary factors to encourage healthy aging. As part of this effort, the team conducted the first large-scale study on over 200 octogenarians (people aged 80–89) in Singapore. Their investigation revealed how the gut microbiome changes with age, highlighting key...

An antibiotic developed some 80 years ago before being abandoned and forgotten could again offer exciting new solutions, this time to the emerging threat of drug-resistant superbugs. Half of the bacteria-killing drugs we use today are variations of compounds that were found nearly a century ago, during the 'golden age' of antibiotics. One called streptothricin was isolated in the 1940s, drawing attention for its potential in treating infections caused by what are known as gram-negative bacteria. Unlike gram-positive bacteria, these microbes lack a robust cell wall that many antibiotics target. Finding alternatives has been one of the big challenges for...

More than a dozen bacterial species among the hundreds that live in people's mouths have been linked to a collective 50% increased chance of developing head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC), a new study shows. Some of these microbes had previously been shown to contribute to periodontal disease, serious gum infections that can eat away at the jawbone and the soft tissues that surround teeth. The new analyses looked at the genetic makeup of oral microbes collected from healthy men and women. Of the hundreds of different bacteria that are routinely found in the mouth, 13 species were shown...

New research has revealed high-altitude air in Earth’s atmosphere is teeming with living organisms, a discovery that challenges our views on the dispersal of microbes and their relationship to human health. The findings, made by an international collective of climate, health, and atmospheric specialists based in Japan and Spain, has revealed Earth’s atmosphere is populated with a surprisingly diverse array of living bacteria, viruses, and fungi. Discovered at altitudes as high as 1,000 to 3,000 meters, the organisms included several potential human pathogens, revealing their ability to travel over great distances and prompting new concerns about their impact on health...