In case you ever thought swimming in lakes was fun....you'd better stop. Florida now reports it's third death due to due a deadly amoeba lurking in it's lakes.
First off....why do we spell "amoeba" with the "o" before the "e". Silly single celled organisms...
Anyway...the culprit is naegleria fowleri, which also happens to be the name of a girl I dated in college once...but that's a different story all together....
Basically, this little critter climbs all up in your nose while you're backstroking...and crawls its way to your brain...where it proceeds to eat your brain tissue and spinal chord. Yum!
Below is some info from the CDC. If you have any of these symptoms....well...don't even bother going to the doctors...you're pretty much cooked.
What are the signs and symptoms of Naegleria infection?
Infection with Naegleria causes the disease primary amebic meningoencephalitis (PAM), a brain inflammation, which leads to the destruction of brain tissue.
Initial signs and symptoms of PAM start 1 to 14 days after infection. These symptoms include headache, fever, nausea, vomiting, and stiff neck. As the amebae cause more extensive destruction of brain tissue this leads to confusion, lack of attention to people and surroundings, loss of balance, seizures, and hallucinations. After the onset of symptoms, the disease progresses rapidly and usually results in death within 3 to 7 days.
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