What is Naegleria Fowleri, Rare Brain-Eating Amoeba That Killed a 2-Year-Old in The US?

Who knew that a dip in the water could prove fatal for Woodrow Turner Bundy? The 2-year-old boy from Nevada, USA, breathed his last on July 19 after battling a brain-eating master infection.

Who knew that a dip in the water could prove fatal for Woodrow Turner Bundy? The 2-year-old from Nevada, USA, breathed his last on July 19 after battling an infection caused by a brain-eating amoeba for nearly seven days. This rare brain-eating amoeba is called Naegleria fowleri. It is usually found in contaminated pools, freshwater lakes, rivers, hot springs, and soil. It is so small in size, as amoebas tend to be, that it can only be seen with a microscope.

According to the Center for Disease Prevention, Naegleria fowleri infects people when water containing the amoeba enters the body through the nose. This usually happens when people go swimming, scuba diving, or stick their heads under fresh water, such as in lakes and rivers. The amoeba then travels up the nose to the brain, destroying brain tissue and causing a devastating infection called primary amebic meningoencephalitis (PAM).

ALL ABOUT NAEGLERIA FOWLERI

The so-called brain-eating amoeba is a species discovered in 1965. Its formal name is Naegleria fowleri. It usually lurks in warm freshwater bodies or untreated polluted water. When it finds its way into the human body, it causes a rare but deadly infection and inflammation in the brain, eventually destroying brain tissue by “eating” it. Doctors call this disease primary amebic meningoencephalitis (PAM). You can only catch it when water contaminated with the brain-eating amoeba goes up your nose.

SYMPTOMS OF BRAIN EATER AMOEBA

Headache
Stiff neck
loss of appetite
seizures
Fever
Nausea

When things get worse, there can also be hallucinations, drooping eyelids, blurred vision, and loss of taste.

As for prevention, it is recommended to be in a clean and hygienic environment. Because it is a rare brain-eating amoeba and therefore there is still research to identify the proper treatment.

WHAT HAPPENED TO A 2-YEAR-OLD BOY IN NEVADA

“Woodrow Turner Bundy returned victorious to our father in heaven at 2:56 am,” he wrote. “He is my hero and I will always be grateful to God for giving me the best baby on earth, and I am grateful to know that one day I will have that child in heaven.”

According to a post from friends of the Bundy family, Woodrow’s parents first noticed something was wrong after the boy began experiencing “flu-like symptoms” last week. His mother rushed him to the hospital, where doctors initially thought he had meningitis.