A Missouri resident has been infected by a microscopic organism that causes a rare, life-threatening brain infection after swimming at Lake of Three Fires State Park in southwest Iowa.
The Iowa Department of Health and Human Services has closed the Taylor County lake to swimming as officials test for Naegleria fowleri, a single-cell free-living ameba-like organism can cause primary amebic meningoencephalitis.
The brain infection is rare — only 154 cases in the United States since 1962 — but it’s nearly always fatal.
Advertisement
Naegleria fowleri can be present in warm, freshwater lakes and ponds. Infection occurs when water is forced up a swimmer’s nose and the organism travels up the nose to the brain, where it destroys brain tissue, the Health Department reported.
The infection can’t be spread from one person to another and can’t be contracted by swallowing contaminated water.
The Health Department is working with the Iowa Department of Natural Resources and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to run tests at the Lake of Three Fires. Testing could take several days. The agencies will work to provide more updates as they are available.
While the brain infection is extremely rare, people who experience the following symptoms after swimming in any warm body of water should contact their doctor immediately:
For more information about Naegleria fowleri, visit the CDC website.
Lake of Three Fires, about 25 miles east of Clarinda, is an 85-acre lake popular with boaters and anglers, the DNR reports online. The state park was dedicated in 1935 and is named after a group of Native Americans from the Potawatomi tribe, known as the “Fire Nation,” who once inhabited the area.
The lake has frequently been closed to swimming in past summers because of harmful algae that create toxic microcystins that can sicken swimmers.
The Iowa Department of Health and Human Services has closed the Taylor County lake to swimming as officials test for Naegleria fowleri, a single-cell free-living ameba-like organism can cause primary amebic meningoencephalitis.
The brain infection is rare — only 154 cases in the United States since 1962 — but it’s nearly always fatal.
Advertisement
Naegleria fowleri can be present in warm, freshwater lakes and ponds. Infection occurs when water is forced up a swimmer’s nose and the organism travels up the nose to the brain, where it destroys brain tissue, the Health Department reported.
The infection can’t be spread from one person to another and can’t be contracted by swallowing contaminated water.
The Health Department is working with the Iowa Department of Natural Resources and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to run tests at the Lake of Three Fires. Testing could take several days. The agencies will work to provide more updates as they are available.
While the brain infection is extremely rare, people who experience the following symptoms after swimming in any warm body of water should contact their doctor immediately:
- Severe headache
- Fever
- Nausea
- Vomiting
- Stiff neck
- Seizures
- Altered mental status
- Hallucinations.
For more information about Naegleria fowleri, visit the CDC website.
Lake of Three Fires, about 25 miles east of Clarinda, is an 85-acre lake popular with boaters and anglers, the DNR reports online. The state park was dedicated in 1935 and is named after a group of Native Americans from the Potawatomi tribe, known as the “Fire Nation,” who once inhabited the area.
The lake has frequently been closed to swimming in past summers because of harmful algae that create toxic microcystins that can sicken swimmers.
Swimmer at Iowa state park infected with brain-destroying organism
A Missouri resident has been infected by a microscopic organism that causes a rare, life-threatening brain infection after swimming at Lake of Three Fires State Park in southwest Iowa.
www.thegazette.com