Brain-Eating Amoeba Case Confirmed in Florida

July 6, 2020 — A case of brain-eating amoeba has been confirmed in the Tampa area, according to the Florida Department of Health.

It said a person in Hillsborough County contracted Naegleria fowleri, a single-cell amoeba that attacks brain tissue and is usually fatal, CBS News reported.

Naegleria fowleri is contacted when contaminated water enters through a person’s nose, and is found in warm freshwater such as lakers, rivers and hot springs, and also in swimming pools that aren’t properly chlorinated, and in contaminated neti pots, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The disease is rare but deadly. Only four people of the 145 known infected individuals in the U.S. have survived, according to the CDC, CBS News reported.