What To Know About Rare Brain-eating Amoeba After Texas Woman Dies

The amoeba, Naegleria fowleri, can lead to a rare brain infection known as PAM.

A Texas woman has died from a rare brain-eating amoeba after using a sinus rinse with contaminated water, according to a case report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The 71-year-old woman -- who was previously healthy -- used tap water at a campground in a nasal irrigation device, and health officials believe this is how she contracted the amoeba, the report states.

She developed a brain infection known as primary amebic meningoencephalitis (PAM) and died eight days after symptoms began, according to the report.

Other details about the patient including name, race/ethnicity or town of residence were not provided in the report.

Here's what to know about the rare, but often fatal, disease.

Naegleria fowleri (N. fowleri) is an amoeba, which is an organism so small it can only be seen with a microscope.

It lives in soil and freshwater ponds, lakes, rivers and hot springs, according to the CDC. It is rarely found in swimming pools, splash pads and tap water.

Most infections with N. fowleri occur when people swim in contaminated water and submerge their heads, causing the amoeba to enter the nose.

People cannot be infected if they swallow contaminated water, and they cannot spread the amoeba to others, the federal health agency said.

N. fowleri is known as a "brain-eating amoeba" because it can infect the brain, causing a disease known as PAM, according to the CDC.

PAM also can occur when people use contaminated tap water to "cleanse their noses during religious practices" or "irrigate their sinuses," the latter of which occurred with the Texas woman in the CDC case report.

Symptoms typically begin five days after exposure but can occur anywhere from one to 12 days after infection, according to the CDC.

Early symptoms resemble those of bacterial meningitis and can include headache, nausea, vomiting and fever. PAM can progress to more severe symptoms such as neck stiffness, seizures, hallucinations, altered mental state and coma.

The disease progresses quickly because a diagnosis is hard to confirm. PAM is almost always fatal, occurring in 97% of cases and, on average, five days after symptoms begin.

If PAM is caught early enough, it can be treated with a combination of drugs including antifungal medications, and sometimes antibiotics, the CDC said.

Fewer than 10 people in the U.S. every year develop PAM, according to the CDC. Between 1962 and 2023, there have been 164 reported cases of PAM in the U.S. with just four survivors, the federal health agency said.