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Causes
By Mayo Clinic staffNaegleria infection is caused by Naegleria fowleri amoeba, which is commonly found in warm bodies of fresh water around the world. The amoeba is also sometimes found in soil. The amoeba enters your body through your nose, via contaminated water or dust, and travels to your brain through the nerves that transmit your sense of smell.
Only a very small percentage of the millions of people who are exposed to Naegleria fowleri ever get sick from it. Why some people become infected after exposure and others don't isn't known.
The amoeba isn't spread from person to person or by drinking contaminated water. Properly cleaned and disinfected swimming pools don't contain the naegleria amoeba.
- Fact sheet: Naegleria infection. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. http:www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dpd/parasites/naegleria/factsht_naegleria.htm. Accessed Jan. 7, 2010.
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists Naegleria Workgroup. Primary amebic meningoencephalitis - Arizona, Florida and Texas, 2007. Mortality and Morbidity Weekly Report. 2008:21;573.
- Solaymani-Mohammadi S, et al. Naegleria fowleri. In: Long SS, et al. Principles and Practice of Pediatric Infectious Diseases. 3rd ed. Philadelphia, Pa.: Churchill Livingstone Elsevier; 2008. http://www.mdconsult.com/das/book/body/177544974-4/936603208/1679/273.html#4-u1.0-B978-0-443-06687-0..50272-1_4741. Accessed Jan. 7, 2010.
- Weisse ME, et al. Primary amebic meningoencephalitis. In: Kliegman RM, et al. Nelson Textbook of Pediatrics. 18th ed. Philadelphia, Pa.: Saunders Elsevier; 2007. http://www.mdconsult.com/das/book/body/177544974-4/936603208/1608/712.html#. Accessed Jan. 7, 2010.
- Leder K, et al. Free living amebas. http://www.uptodate.com/home/index.html. Accessed Jan. 7, 2010.
- Neurological diagnostic tests and procedures. National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke. http://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/misc/diagnostic_tests.htm. Accessed Jan. 8, 2010.
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