Yahoo headline today, "6 die from brain-eating amoeba in lakes" caught my eye. I'm eternally fascinated in all things that eat brains...a childhood phobio I suppose. Excerpt:A killer amoeba living in lakes enters the body through the nose and attacks the brain where it feeds until you die…. It's killed six boys and young men this year…and health officials are predicting more cases in the future.
"This is definitely something we need to track," said a specialist in recreational waterborne illnesses for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Wow, you think?)
According to the CDC, the amoeba called Naegleria fowleri killed 23 people in the United States, from 1995 to 2004. This year health officials noticed a spike with six cases — three in Florida, two in Texas and one in Arizona. The CDC knows of only several hundred cases worldwide since its discovery in Australia in the 1960s.
3 comments:
"Only" several hundred cases world wide? Sounds like PR for some bio-containment accident for Andromeda Strain. 3 in Florida? Suddenly the pool chemicals dont seem that bad.
I'm becoming more phobic myself with each new thing I learn. This doesnt help.
We have the occasional "Accidental dumping of sewage" into the ocean down here around the general area of Fort Lauderdale and south. It always blows my mind to see a swimmer's warning sign for elevated bacteria levels.
Did you catch the recent special on the polluted status of the Ganges river? It was shocking.
Our apartment pool has been closed twice in 3 years or so for potential contamination because of neglect. Our landlord is from India. Go figure.
Lets not forget The Terrifying Toothpick Fish...the "candirú."
http://www.damninteresting.com/?p=797
New horror story for Ugs on Dr. Wu's blog.
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