Brain-Eating Amoeba Kills NC Man After Swimming At Water Park

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HOPE MILLS, NC — A North Carolina man died this week from a brain-eating amoeba, according to state health officials. He picked up the organism at Fantasy Lake Water Park in Cumberland County, according to authorities.

After swimming at the lake July 12 in Hope Mills, he developed an illness that officials said they would later trace to the amoeba by lab tests at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Called Naegleria fowleri, the brain-eating amoeba is common in warmer areas of fresh water. It is not found in salt water and can be deadly if it goes up a person’s nose. Activities like water skiing or diving may lead to water entering the nose with some sort of force, allowing introduction of this organism into the body.

Once in the nose, the amoeba travels into the brain along the olfactory nerve and starts destroying brain tissue. The resulting brain infection is called amebic meningoencephalitis, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and symptoms begin within one to nine days.

Symptoms of amebic meningoencephalitis begin with a severe frontal headache, fever, nausea and vomiting, then progress to stiff neck, seizures and coma.

Death usually occurs one to 18 days after symptoms begin, with a median of five days of survival, according to officials.

Eddie Gray of Guilford County was at the water park with his church when the amoeba went up his nose, according to WRAL-TV. That was Friday, July 12.

Gray died Monday, July 22.

Be Mindful: North Carolina Health Official

The brain-eating amoeba cannot be eradicated, officials say.

“People should be aware that this organism is present in warm freshwater lakes, rivers and hot springs across North Carolina, so be mindful as you swim or enjoy water sports,” North Carolina State Epidemiologist Zack Moore, M.D., said in a statement.

Long periods of heat make the infections more likely to occur as water temperatures are higher and water levels are lower, according to state health officials.

The organism does not sicken people who drink water. To make someone ill, it must go up someone’s nose.

Because of the specific way it gets into the body, there are precautions people can take to prevent being sickened by the organism.

Here are tips the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services and the Cumberland County Department of Public Health offered to stay safe from the brain-eating amoeba:

Rare Illness With Few Survivors

While Naegleria fowleri is a common organism in warm freshwater, authorities say the infections are rare.

There have been 145 known cases — of which 141 were fatal — in the United States from 1962 to 2018, according to the Centers for Disease Control.

Five cases of amebic meningoencephalitis were in North Carolina, officials reported.

Funeral For Eddie Gray

Gray, 59, worked for UPS Greensboro as an operations supervisor, according to his obituary.

His greatest joy was his family, while his other interests included NASCAR, camping, hunting, kayaking and fishing, the obituary stated.

Visitation will be from 4 to 8 p.m. Saturday, July 27, at the Pierce-Jefferson Funeral Home, 213 West Mountain Street, Kernersville.

A funeral service is set for 3 p.m. on Sunday, July 28, at Sedge Garden United Methodist Church at 794 Sedge Garden Road, Kernersville, NC 27284. Interment will follow in the church cemetery.

Memorial contributions may go to Sedge Garden United Methodist Church Youth Group, 794 Sedge Garden Road, Kernersville, NC 27284.

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