A 6-year-old boy tragically passed away from a brain-eating amoeba found in their local water supply.
According to reports, Josiah McIntyre died after playing in Lake Jackson Civic Center Splash Pad.
The brain-eating amoeba either entered his body from a hose in the family home or while playing at a splash pad.
The amoeba, Naegleria fowleri, is usually life-threatening if it enters through the nose. It can cause primary amebic meningoencephalitis (PAM), a devastating brain infection.
Commonly found in warm freshwaters like hot springs, rivers, and lakes, Naegleria fowleri enters the nose and travels to the brain where it causes an infection. This usually occurs when people go diving or swimming in warm freshwater places.
According to the CDC, people cannot get infected from swallowing contaminated water The infection also cannot be transmitted from one person to another.
Last month, 13-year-old Tanner Lake passed away after having a family vacation to a campground in North Florida.
In July, the Florida Department of Health reported another case in Hillsborough County.
People who are infected with brain-eating amoeba have symptoms including nausea, vomiting, fever, headaches, and stiff neck, and many die within a week.
The city manager, Modesto Mundo, said: “The notification to us at that time was that he has played at one of play fountains and he may have also played with a water hose at the home.”
He also said to KCENTV that the city closed the splash pad right away after the 6-year-old boy’s death.
“We’re surprised just as everybody that the tests came back for the system,” he said. “But now that it’s been detected in three separate spots that’s where the questions come up: is it in the system?”
Eight communities were instructed not to drink the water. Mundo said their goal is to determine if there is contamination in the water system or whether it has spread across the region.
What are your thoughts on this? Let us know in the comments section and SHARE this story with your friends and family!
Replaced!