News Briefs: 'Brain-Eating Amoeba' Returns to Louisiana Parish

Naegleria fowleri, colloquially known as the brain-eating amoeba, has made a return to Terrebonne Parish in Louisiana. It’s the third time since 2015 the organism has been found in the water system. The Terrebonne Consolidated Waterworks District released an advisory telling residents not to allow water to get up their noses while bathing or put their heads under water, since that’s how people get infected. Symptoms of an infection resemble those of meningitis. Drinking the water is safe because stomach acid kills the amoeba. The district changed its disinfection process in an effort to kill the organism.The public