Health experts are telling 200,000 residents in Florida to avoid washing their face with tap water after a man died from a brain-eating amoeba.
Officials believe the unnamed Charlotte County man died after rinsing his sinuses using tap water contaminated with the microscopic pathogen.
Dr Mobeen Rathore, an infectious disease expert from the University of Florida, told DailyMail.com residents in the county should avoid exposing their nose to tap water – including while showering – until ‘officials give the all clear’.
‘Unless it’s cleared [by local health authorities] you should avoid any water going into the nose — at least for now. ‘In the shower, avoid getting anything into the nose.’
His comments were echoed by Dr Anjan Debnath, a pararsite expert at the University of California, San Diego.
Dr Mobeen Rathore (left), an infectious disease expert from the University of Florida, said that people should not wash their nose with tap water. Dr Anjan Debnath (right) said chlorine should be strong enough to treat the water and kill the amoeba
Both experts stress the chance of suffering an amoeba infection is miniscule — only around 160 have been detected in US history.
Usually cases are linked back to people swimming in warm outdoor waters, where the single-celled organism thrives.
Local health officials in Charlotte County, around 70 miles south of Tampa, told DailyMail.com they were investigating the cause of the potential contamination.
‘Infection with Naegleria fowleri is rare and can only happen when water contaminated with amoebae enters the body through the nose,’ a Florida Health Department spokesperson told DailyMail.com.
The Florida resident is believed to have contracted the infection when rinsing out his sinuses.
Sinus rinsing is a practice where a person flows water into their nose through one nostril and out the other – in an attempt to clean mucus and other debris.
It is unclear whether he used a pressurized sinus rinser, or used a pot to manually pour water in.
Local officials advise residents to boil water for at least one minute before using it to wash their noses to kill any lingering bacteria or harmful chemicals.
There are processes that prevent the amoeba from making its way from the groundwater into your tap.
Dr Debnath said that tap water should be avoided for these practices at all times because of the lingering risk – no matter how small – of contaminants like the amoeba.
If someone must wash their nose, Dr Rathore said they should instead boil their water first, use a saline solution to disinfect the water or distilled water.
Dr Rathore explains that these amoeba, scientifically known as Naegleria fowleri, are naturally in groundwater that is eventually used in taps around your home.
‘It’s a part of the water supply,’ he explained.
‘It’s in the soil, the water, the sediment of the water. It’s not a contaminant in natural reservoirs, it is a part of it.’
First, water is applied from coagulation chemicals – such as salts, iron or aluminum – which make particles lingering in the water, like dirt, larger.
These particles are then removed through the process of sedimentation and filtration, where the heavy particles are sorted out from the overall supply.
Finally, the water is treated with a disinfecting chemical – often chlorine – to kill any lingering bacteria or amoebas.
Dr Debnath said chlorine is strong enough to kill the amoeba.
‘Usually drinking water gets treated with chlorine, and chlorine is pretty good at killing the amoeba,’ he explained.
‘Chlorine can kill very effectively.’
This is not the first time the amoeba has found its way into municipally controlled water, though.
Louisiana has famously suffered multiple issues with the deadly organism found in its water supply.
In 2011, two Louisianans died because of contaminated water in the home. Another unnamed child died in 2013.
Still, modern water treatment should be enough to protect people, experts say.
The US has only suffered around 160 confirmed or suspected case of brain-eating amoeba since it first started tracking them in 1962
Dr Debnath also pointed out that some religious practices may be risky too – like when Muslims perform sinus cleaning before prayer.
But, this will also apply to showering, general face washing and any other time where a person may allow tap water to go up their nose.
While the brain-eating amoeba itself cannot cause any harm when in enters through the mouth, other contaminants can.
If the public water supply in Charlotte County is being under-treated there is a risk organisms that can cause harm when drunken could be lurking.
‘If one organism [is] failed [by] the water purification system… efforts should be [enhanced] to make sure others aren’t,’ Dr Rathore said.
‘You cannot be infected by drinking tap water…DOH-Charlotte, as part of a multi-agency response, is continuing to investigate how this infection occurred and is working with the local public utilities to identify any potential links and make any necessary corrective actions.’
They are also concerned about the case appearing this early in the year. Brain-eating amoeba infections almost always occur over summer, because the organism thrives in a warm environment.
While Florida does not suffer the brutal chilly temperatures of much of the rest of America, it is usually not hot enough in the state in these winter months to allow it to fester.
Dr Debnath explained that the amoeba can live in colder winter temperature, but has trouble replicating and spreading.
Dr Rathore points to climate change as a potential cause, as abnormal weather patterns could be causing the amoeba to show up at unexpected times.
