Health officials have determined that the person who contracted the exceedingly uncommon brain-eating amoeba that caused their infection died in Arkansas and was probably exposed to it at a country club splash pad, authorities said on Thursday.
The Naegleria fowleri infection, an uncommon virus that damages brain tissue and occasionally results in death, has been reported by the Arkansas Department of Health as the cause of the death. The age of the deceased was not disclosed by the department. According to the agency, the public is not still at risk as a result of the exposure.
The individual who passed away was most likely exposed at the splash pad at the Country Club of Little Rock, according to the department’s analysis. Multiple samples from the pool and splash pad at the country club, according to the department, were forwarded to the CDC. The department reported that one splash pad sample had live Naegleria fowleri, and the CDC verified this.
The department said that the country club had voluntarily shuttered the pool and splash pad. Pool and splash pad are still locked up. The country club, which the government said it had spoken with, had been helpful with its enquiries, it claimed.
According to the CDC, Naegleria fowleri infections occur when a person inhales water contaminated with the ameba through the nose. This frequently occurs when individuals swim, dive, or submerge their heads in freshwater, such as lakes and rivers.
The agency emphasized the need of keeping soil pollution to a minimum and maintaining suitable disinfection levels in order to preserve swimming pools and splash pads.
According to the CDC, consuming tainted water won’t cause infection with Naegleria fowleri.
And KTHV-TV, a CBS station in Little Rock, Arkansas, reported that the health department has determined the condition is not communicable.
2013 saw the final Arkansas case documented.
Only around three Americans contract the virus each year, but these infections are typically deadly.