a man dies after being infected by a "brainworming amoeba" in a water park

It is a very rare but deadly infection in almost all cases. The naegleria fowleri, dubbed the "brainworming amoeba", has made a new victim in North Carolina. On July 12, a 59-year-old American man died after bathing in the Fantasy Lake Water Park, a water park in the city of Hope Mills, according to a news release (in English) from theDepartment of Health and Social Services of the State.

This micro-organism, which is found mainly in stagnant warm water (at least 25 ° C), is not dangerous if it is swallowed by the mouth but is fatal in case of absorption through the nose, "as it can happen during diving, water skiing or any other nautical activity". The symptoms are characterized by "severe headache, fever, nausea and vomiting, then contract at neck, convulsions and coma".

Fortunately, this infection is not widespread. In the United States, 145 people were infected from 1962 to 2018, "between zero and eight cases a year", says the North Carolina Health Department. Only four cases were not fatal. In France, in 2014, ANSES listed 310 cases in the world for 50 years.