A 30-year-old woman has passed away after contracting a brain-eating amoeba from an indoor swimming pool.
The incident occurred in northern Taiwan during the summer of 2023 at the New Taipei City indoor water park. It is believed that the woman was infected with Naegleria fowleri, an organism that proves fatal in 97 percent of cases.
It is thought she was learning to surf in a wave pool where water entered her nose, allowing the amoeba to infiltrate her body.
This is noted to be the most typical method of infection by this amoeba.
At a news briefing in Taiwan, Centers for Disease Control (CDC) Deputy Director-General Tseng Shu-huai confirmed that traces of N. fowleri were found in the woman, attributing her death to meningitis.
She experienced seizures, headaches, fever, and stiffness in her neck and shoulders six days before she succumbed to the illness.
Subsequent testing of the water park revealed insufficient chlorine levels to eliminate the amoeba. Additionally, traces of the organism were found in a puddle in the park’s basement, suggesting it could have spread to the pools through the staff’s footwear.
N. fowleri thrives in warm freshwater and can infect individuals when it enters through the nose, traveling to the brain where it destroys tissue and causes fatal swelling.
The CDC reports that the infection has a fatality rate exceeding 97 percent, with only four survivors out of 154 known infections in the United States from 1962 to 2021.
This incident represents Taiwan’s first death from N. fowleri in 12 years, as reported by the Taipei Times.