With warm weather comes Naegleria fowleri, a rare parasite that infects humans through freshwater. Last week, Naegleria fowleri killed a 4 year old, who contracted it while playing on a Slip ‘N Slide in St. Bernard Parish, La.
Initial tests on the local water system showed no signs of the amoeba, but additional tests from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention confirmed the presence of the amoeba in four locations of the St. Bernard Parish water system, according to the Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals.
Water taken from the home where the child contracted the disease tested positive for the amoeba as well, and CDC officials continued testing the local water system.
Those tests revealed that the town's water system contained the amoeba, possibly because some samples also had low levels of chlorine.
"We know that chlorine kills Naegleria fowleri, which is why it was critical that the parish proactively began flushing its water system with additional chlorine last week,” said Assistant Secretary for Public Health J.T Lane in a press release.
Officials continued to urge residents that the water is safe to drink as they add chlorine to the supply and added that contracting the amoeba remains unlikely.
“The water is safe to drink, and there are basic precautions that families can take, such as chlorinating their pools and avoiding getting water in their noses, to protect themselves, though infection from this amoeba is very rare,” said State Health Officer Jimmy Guidry in a press release.
The rare infection only occurred in 32 Americans from 2001 to 2010. Nearly all of the infections were linked to contaminated recreational water, according to the Louisiana Office of Public Health.
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