A woman in Texas has died after contracting a rare infection caused by a brain-eating amoeba, which she encountered while using tap water to rinse her sinuses at a campground, according to a recent report.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) detailed the case in its Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, released last Thursday. The woman, who was 71 years old and otherwise healthy, developed severe symptoms within days.
According to the report, she began experiencing symptoms such as fever, headache, and “altered mental status” within four days of using a nasal irrigation device (neti pot) filled with tap water.
Though she received treatment for what doctors suspected to be Primary Amebic Meningoencephalitis (PAM), the report states that she began having seizures and died eight days after symptoms first appeared.
Brain-eating amoeba
The CDC confirmed the presence of Naegleria fowleri—the brain-eating amoeba—in the woman’s cerebrospinal fluid.
Naegleria fowleri is a single-celled organism found in freshwater sources like lakes, rivers, and hot springs, according to the CDC.
“If water containing the ameba goes up the nose and to the brain, it can cause an infection called primary amebic meningoencephalitis (PAM),” the CDC explained. “Typically, fewer than 10 people a year in the United States get PAM. Nearly everyone who gets PAM dies from it.”
Medical records show that between 1962 and 2023, there were 164 reported PAM cases in the U.S. Only four patients survived.
The Texas Department of State Health Services concluded that the woman had no recreational exposure to natural freshwater sources, but had reportedly used non-boiled tap water from an RV water system for nasal rinsing “on several occasions.”
Authorities were unable to detect the amoeba in samples from the RV tank or the campground water supply, which may be because they took the samples 23 days after the possible exposure took place. But testing did indicate the water had inadequate levels of disinfectant to prevent microbes from building biofilm communities that can protect pathogens like N. fowleri.
To help prevent such infections, the CDC recommends the following precautions:
• Wear a nose clip or hold your nose when jumping or diving into freshwater.
• Keep your head above water in hot springs.
• Avoid digging in shallow, warm freshwater.
• Always use distilled or previously boiled tap water when cleaning your nasal passages or using sinus rinse devices.
At least two other deaths tied to brain-eating amoeba infections from neti pot use were reported last year.
The location and name of the campground would have help a whole lot in this article. Maybe a robot AI article?
Hi, Ken. No, it wasn’t written by AI. In fact, there are articles from several different news sources about it. Here’s a link to the CDC’s report. It says the source of the water was either from the RV’s water tank or from the municipal water system, but it doesn’t indicate where. However, the report states the amoeba was no longer in any of the water tested in the RV or at the campground. If the campground had been named, which it most likely would have been had it been relevant, we would have included that in our article. –Diane at RVtravel.com
Thank you for the news and its inherent warnings of the risks of certain uses of untreated fresh water, RV Travel! Yikes! I am relieved (although my sinuses are not always) that I only take over-the-counter allergy medicines and do not resort to rinsing my sinuses. Have a great weekend and safe travels!
I’ve rinsed my sinuses for years, and you NEVER use tap water; Only distilled water in a container that’s been microwaved a few seconds to disinfect.
ALL medical authorities have always stressed the mandatory need to BOIL ANY freshwater used for sinus’ rinses. In this case there is no way of knowing if the organism came from the tank or the campground. No reason to name the campground and subject them to the condemnation unless the campground water showed the presence of this organism.
Truly sad. Pretty scary too. However, 10 cases a year in a country of 340 million people represents .000003% of the population. Just some perspective.
And so many brag that they travel with empty fresh water tanks and fill at the campsite. Same campers who don’t sanitize.
There are many dangerous pathogens in our water supply which are harmful when ingested through the nose. This is why you should always use distilled water for rinsing the nasal cavities. Ironically that woman would still be alive if she drank that water instead. Our stomach is perfectly suited to neutralizing the pathogens in that water supply.