Missouri swimmer infected with amoeba, likely from Iowa swim
[MGN]
BEDFORD, Iowa (AP) – A Missouri resident is hospitalized in intensive care after being infected with a rare brain-eating amoeba that likely happened after swimming in a southeastern Iowa lake.
The Iowa Department of Health and Human Services has shut down the beach at Lake of Three Fires State Park in Taylor County after the person was diagnosed with an illness caused by the naegleria fowleri ameba.
People are infected when water containing the ameba enters the body through the nose, usually while victims are swimming or diving in lakes and rivers. The CDC says the fatality rate is over 97%.
It is believed to be the first case discovered in Iowa. Neighboring states Minnesota, Missouri and Kansas have all reported infections, which have primarily occurred in southern-tier states.