Brain eating amoeba, a scary bug

PHOTO:THE EXPRESS TRIBUNE

After the tragic death of 10 people in Pakistan, brain-eating amoeba is now striking terror in the heart of many people.
It is a single celled organism called Naegleria fowleri. It has a fatality rate of more than 98 percent. It literally consumes brain cells by sucking them throw a straw-like appendage. It lives and thrives primarily in warm freshwater that is unclean. It is transmitted when this contaminated water enters the body through the nose but cannot be passed person-to-person.
Symptoms are initially very mild, including a headache, stiff neck, fever and stomach pain. Death usually occurs five to seven days after infection. Experts recommended that people should avoid getting water too deep into their nostrils and make sure their water supply is properly treated to avoid the transmission.