This is my favorite time of the year. What is there not to
like about playoff baseball (Go Cardinals), College and NFL Football ramping
up, Hockey starting, leaves changing color, autumn kicking into gear, apple
pie, apple dumplings, apple cider – I’m from the Midwest, I like apples – Oktoberfest
brews and parties, and of course to cap it off Halloween.
And just in time for that time honored tradition of putting
on costumes, parading around for a trick or a treat, parts of our country have
been invaded…
“ZOMBIES!!!” . . . . are not coming – well not to us in the
world of the living. Though the hit TV show “Walking Dead” returns on October
13, many in the deep south have been left wondering if the real deal is headed
to streets near them. A “brain-eating”
microbe has gotten in to public water supplies near New Orleans, LA, and is
causing quite a stir. However rare, the amoeba, Naelgleria fowleri, if contracted nasally is nearly always
deadly, and must be taken seriously.
From the CDC, here are the facts:
- This amoeba is found in warm or hot fresh water
- When contracted through the nose, causes Primary Amebic Meningoencephalitis (or just PAM)
- Of the 128 people known to be infected in the US (since 1962), there is only one survivor.
The 2-page
fact sheet provides further information on symptoms, how it spreads,
locations to aware of and tips on how to protect yourself.
Yet N. fowleri is
a shining example of nature’s (albeit sick)
sense of humor. Imaging of the attachment and feeding structures suggest that
the amoeba has eyes and a mouth; almost as if it were donning its own mask.
Images by: Dr. Francine Marciano-Cabral (left) and D.T.
John & T.B. Cole, Visuals Unlimited (right)
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