South Korea’s health authorities recently reported its first case of infection from Naegleria fowleri, or more commonly referred to as the “brain-eating amoeba.”
The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) revealed that an elderly man who had recently returned from Thailand had passed away after spending four months there.
Photo via The Star
According to The Star, the man returned to South Korea on 10 December and was admitted to the hospital the following day.
To determine the exact cause of his death, the KDCA claimed to have performed genetic tests on three different pathogens that cause Naegleria fowleri.
Results revealed that the man’s gene was 99.6% identical to one discovered in a meningitis patient who had been reported abroad.
This is the first known infection from the disease in South Korea. The first case was reported in Virginia in 1937.
The Naegleria fowleri is an amoeba, or a single-cell living organism that is found in soil and warm freshwater such as hotsprings, lakes and rivers which can be found anywhere in the world.
The amoeba enters the body by inhalation through the nose and travels to the brain.
According to the KDCA, symptoms of the brain-eating amoeba include severe headaches, fever, vomiting, and stiff necks. The Naegleria fowleri typically takes two to three days to incubate, but it can take up to 15 days at most.
Oh, how scary!
