A brain-eating amoeba has been detected in a Louisiana parish's water supply system but, nonetheless, officials are insisting it's safe to drink.
The state Department of Health and Hospitals recently sampled water from St. John the Baptist Parish – which comprises about 12,500 people in the towns of Reserve, Garyville, and Mount Airy – and discovered that the disinfectant level was below the
minimum of .5 milligrams per liter, according to WWLTV.
The DDH then issued an emergency alert Wednesday confirming the presence of Naegleria fowleri, an amoeba that can cause parasitic meningitis. The order mandated that a chlorine burn be conducted on the water supply early Thursday to kill the organism.
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"Clearly, as we get to exactly what has happened in this case, the protocol will be revisited and if changes are necessary we will take care of that," parish president Natalie Robottom told WWLTV. "The parish utilities department is taking immediate actions to fully chlorinate the water system and eliminate the threat."
The brain-eating amoeba infects people when contaminated water enters a person's nose. It produces symptoms one to seven days after infection, including headache, fever, nausea, vomiting, and a
stiff neck, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. A person usually succumbs to the parasite after about 12 days.
Still, Robottom insists the water is safe.
"It is safe to drink, to eat, and use to cook," she said. "The problem is to make sure that you keep precautions to prevent the water from going up your nose. Now understanding it's the holiday weekend, swimming and slip 'n' slide, those are all areas to proceed with caution."
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