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A rare brain infection has prompted Iowa officials to close a beach in Taylor County.
The Iowa Department of Natural Resources said the temporary closure is a precautionary response to a confirmed Naegleria fowleri infection in a Missouri resident who recently had potential exposure while swimming at the beach at Lake of Three Fires State Park.
Testing to confirm the presence of the “brain-eating amoeba” is being conducted in conjunction with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and may take several days to complete.
The department wrote that it is working closely with the Iowa Department of Health and Human Services and will share updates as test results become available.
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No additional suspicious cases are being investigated in Iowa.
Lake of the Three Fires State Park in Taylor County, Iowa (Iowa Department of Natural Resources)
In its own statement, the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services wrote that the Missouri patient is currently being treated for primary amebic meningoencephalitis (PAM) in a hospital intensive care unit.
He said the source of the patient’s exposure is being investigated and that local and out-of-state activities are being considered.
The only other case identified in a Missouri resident occurred in 1987, and no other suspected PAM cases were considered there.
“These situations are extremely rare in the United States, and particularly in Missouri, but it is important for people to know that infection is possible so that they can seek medical attention promptly if associated symptoms occur,” Dr. George Turabelidze, Missouri State Epidemiologist, said in a statement.
Naegleria fowleri (commonly called “brain-eating amoeba” or “brain-eating amoeba”) is a free-living microscopic amoeba* (a single-celled organism). It can cause a rare** and devastating brain infection called primary amebic meningoencephalitis (PAM). (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC))
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The Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services said on Facebook Friday that it is strongly convinced by public health experts that the lake is a likely source and that additional public water sources in Missouri are being tested.
Missourians are cautioned to use caution when swimming and diving in warm freshwater and to suspect the presence of Naegleria fowleria in these conditions.
Since 1962, only 154 known cases have been identified in the United States
PAM is not contagious, but it can be life-threatening.
Lake of the Three Fires State Park in southwest Iowa (Iowa Department of Natural Resources)
Naegleria fowleri, the free-living microscopic single-celled organism that causes PAM, is commonly found in lakes, rivers, hot springs, and soil.
It usually infects people when contaminated water enters the nose and the amoeba travels to the brain.
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In very rare cases, infections can also occur when contaminated water from other sources enters the nose, but a person cannot become infected by swallowing contaminated water.
Symptoms of infection include severe headache, fever, nausea, vomiting, stiff neck, convulsions, anxious mental state and hallucinations.
Julia Musto is a reporter for Fox News Digital. You can find her on Twitter at @JuliaElenaMusto.
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