Victim infected with
A Georgia resident has died from a rare brain infection, commonly known as the “brain-eating amoeba”, state health officials said on Friday.
The victim was infected with Naegleria fowleri, an amoeba that destroys brain tissue, causes brain swelling and usually death, the Georgia department of health confirmed in a news release.
This is the sixth case of the infection in Georgia since 1962. But there have been a handful of other similar cases reported in the US so far this year, according to NBC News.
And because the amoeba grows in warm fresh water, it is well suited to proliferate as temperatures in the US rise amid the ongoing climate crisis, according to environmental experts.
Officials said the victim in Georgia was probably infected while swimming in a freshwater lake or pond but did not say where. People can become infected when water containing the amoeba goes up a person’s nose.
