Person dies of brain-eating amoeba infection after swimming in lake, health officials say

(Gray News) – A person in the Austin, Texas, area has died from an amebic meningitis infection, an infection of the brain, health officials announced Wednesday,

Austin Public Health said the Travis County, Texas, resident got ill after swimming in Lake Lyndon B. Johnson this month.

The person who died was not identified.

A sample specimen from the case has been sent to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Primary amebic meningoencephalitis infections are rare in Texas, with only 39 known infected in the state between 1962 and 2022, Austin health officials said.

The rare brain infection is caused by Naegleria fowleri and is usually fatal, the CDC said. As of 2022, there have only been four U.S. survivors.

The amoeba can cause infection when it enters the body through the nose. Warm fresh water, such as lakes and rivers, tap water, as well as insufficiently chlorinated swimming pools and other recreational venues are among the places where it can be found. It does not live in the ocean.

The infection can cause severe illness up to nine days after exposure. Symptoms start with severe headache, fever, nausea and vomiting and progress to stiff neck, seizures and coma and can lead to death.

The CDC said most infections have been linked to swimming in southern states, like Florida and Texas, but the range of the amoeba could be expanding as the climate warms.

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