Missouri patient dies from brain-eating amoeba infection after swimming at Iowa beach

A Missouri patient infected with a rare brain-eating amoeba after swimming at a beach has died, the state health department told CNN on Friday.

The victim’s name will not be released. It’s the first confirmed case of primary amoebic meningoencephalitis (PAM), in Missouri in 35 years. Only 154 cases have been identified in the United States since 1962, said Lisa Cox, a spokeswoman for DHSS in a previous statement.

Officials believe the patient was exposed to Naegleria fowleri, otherwise known as the brain-eating amoeba causing the infection, while at the Lake of Three Fires State Park beach in Iowa. The beach will be closed to swimmers while the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention test whether there is a risk of added exposure, according to the Iowa Department of Public Health.

The patient was hospitalized and treated in an intensive care unit. No other cases of the infection are being investigated in either state, the Iowa health department said.

People can contract the infection when contaminated water enters the body through the nose. The infection cannot be spread from one person to another and cannot be caused by drinking contaminated water, according to the CDC.

The microscopic, single-celled amoeba is found in warm freshwater such as lakes, rivers and ponds. Once a person is infected, the amoeba travels to the brain and begins to destroy tissue, the CDC said.

While PAM infections are rare, those swimming can decrease the risk of infection by limiting the amount of water going up the nose, according to DHSS.

The DHSS recommends the following precautions:

• Hold your nose shut, use nose clips, or keep your head above water when taking part in water-related activities in bodies of warm freshwater.

• Avoid putting your head under the water in hot springs and other untreated thermal waters.

• Avoid water-related activities in warm freshwater during periods of high-water temperature.

• Avoid digging or stirring up the sediment while taking part in water-related activities in shallow, warm freshwater areas.

Symptoms of infection include severe headache, fever, nausea and vomiting, stiff neck, seizures and hallucinations. Anyone who experiences symptoms after swimming in a warm body of water should contact a health care professional because the infection progresses quickly.

The Star’s Sophia Belshe contributed to this report