FW: PRO/EDR> Amebic meningoencephalitis, primary - USA: (AR, LA)

[Maffei, Joanne]

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Subject: PRO/EDR> Amebic meningoencephalitis, primary - USA: (AR, LA)


AMEBIC MENINGOENCEPHALITIS, PRIMARY - USA: (ARKANSAS, LOUISIANA)
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In this posting:
[1] Arkansas
[2] Louisiana

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[1] Arkansas
Date: Sun 28 Jul 2013 [accessed 5 Sep 2013]
Source: eCanadaNow [summ., edited]
<http://www.ecanadanow.com/health/2013/07/28/parasitic-meningitis-discovered-in-arkansas-park/>


The Arkansas Department of Health (ADH) and the Center for Disease Control (CDC) has confirmed a case of parasitic meningitis in 12-year-old boy from Benton, Arkansas.

The free living amoeba causes the meningitis and is found in fresh water. The amoeba usually enters the nose of someone while he or she is swimming or diving in warm rivers, lakes and streams during the summer months.

According to the CDC, parasitic meningitis is rare. From 2003 to 2012, this parasite was confirmed in only 31 people. From 1962 to 2012, there were only 6 confirmed cases in Arkansas.

The ADH believes that the patient was infected at the Willow Springs Water Park in Little Rock, Arkansas. One of the 2010 cases of parasitic meningitis was associated with that same facility. "This infection is one of the most severe infections that we know of; 99 percent of people who get it, die," said Dirk Haselow from the Arkansas Department of Health.

After the CDC connected 2 occurrences of the _Naegleria fowleri_ with the Willow Springs, the ADH asked the owners to close down voluntarily. They agreed and are investigating the possibility of installing features in the park to help prevent future infections.

"We, as general management of Willow Springs Water Park, have received new information regarding _Naegleria fowleri_, and have elected to close the park as of [25 Jul 2013] at the request of the Arkansas Department of Health," said the owners of Willow Springs.

The CDC offers the following precautions for concerned people: use nose clips or hold the nose while swimming in these fresh-water bodies, keep the head out of water and avoid stirring up dirt, sand and debris while swimming in shallow, fresh-water areas.

[Byline: Jim K.]

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[2] Louisiana
Date: Thu 5 Sep 2013
Source: Bayou Buzz, The Times-Picayune report [edited] <http://www.bayoubuzz.com/louisiana-news/new-orleans-news/item/525221-st-bernard-parish-child-dies-from-rare-encephalitis-infection-cdc-confirms>


The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Thursday [5 Sep 2013] confirmed that a St. Bernard Parish [Louisiana] child died from primary amebic meningoencephalitis, a brain infection that leads to the destruction of brain tissue. It is a rare infection that has been associated with 3 deaths traced to water in Louisiana since 2011, according to the State Department of Health and Hospitals [DHH].

In the 10 years from 2001 to 2010, only 32 infections were reported in the United States, according to the CDC. Of those cases, 30 people were infected by contaminated recreational water and 2 people were infected by water from a drinking water supply.

While water samples taken from the St. Bernard home tested positive for _Naegleria fowleri_ -- which can cause encephalitis -- initial tests of the parish water system tested negative for that amoeba. "We are working with the parish to make sure precautionary measures are being taken while we await additional test results on samples taken from the area's water system," DHH Assistant Secretary for Public Health J.T. Lane said on Thursday [5 Sep 2013].

Because some DHH tests showed low levels of chlorine in some areas of the system, the parish is taking preventative measures to flush its water system, and DHH will perform additional testing, according to St. Bernard Parish government. "After notification from our state and federal partners regarding this matter, we conducted immediate and exhaustive testing of the entire water supply of St. [Bernard Parish].

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[Free living amoeba is ubiquitous in fresh water, and cases have been reported from temperate, subtropical and tropical climate zones. The free living ameba _Naegleria fowleri_ may in rare cases cause primary amebic meningoencephalitis (PAM). The amoeba is thermophilic and proliferates during summer months when the ambient temperature is high.

A thorough review of the biology and clinical symptoms is found in ProMED-mail posting: Amebic meningoencephalitis, primary - USA (04), Pakistan (archive no. 20120802.1226562) from 2 Aug 2012.

Cases have been reported transmitted by organ transplants and probably infected through drinking water. However, if the patient has been swimming in fresh water 7 to 14 days before the symptoms started, the infection was most probably acquired there. - Mod.EP

A HealthMap/ProMED-mail map can be accessed at:
<http://healthmap.org/r/2NN8>.]

[see also:
2012
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Amebic meningoencephalitis, primary - USA (03): (SC) fatal, comment
20120725.1214821
Amebic meningoencephalitis, primary - USA (02): (SC) fatal, comment
20120724.1212756
Amebic meningoencephalitis, primary - USA: (SC) fatal
20120722.1210641
2011
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Amebic meningoencephalitis - USA (04): (LA) 20111216.3613 Amebic meningoencephalitis - USA (03): (KS) 20110913.2784 Amebic meningoencephalitis - USA (02): (VA, LA) 20110820.2534 Amebic meningoencephalitis - USA: (VA, FL) 20110817.2494
2010
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Amebic meningoencephalitis, primary - USA: (MN) 20100829.3077
2009
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Amebic meningoencephalitis, organ transplant - USA (02): (MS)
20091222.4309
2002
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Amebic meningoencephalitis - USA (Arizona) (05) 20021124.5886 Amebic meningoencephalitis, primary - USA (AZ) (04) 20021106.5733 Amebic meningoencephalitis, primary - USA (AZ) (03) 20021024.5632 Amebic meningoencephalitis, primary - USA (AZ) (02) 20021021.5617 Amebic meningoencephalitis, primary - USA (Arizona) 20021020.5608
2001
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Amebic meningoencephalitis, primary - USA (Texas) 20010826.2028] .................................................sb/ep/je/mpp
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