A potentially deadly amoeba has been found in drinking water in Australia.
Testing by Queensland health authorities found naegleria fowleri in the water supply of two towns in the south west of the region.
Murweh Shire Council, which covers Charleville and Augathella, the two affected towns, said the risk of the amoeba’s presence comes from unchlorinated water sourced from the Great Artesian Basin, a huge underground reservoir.
The basin is the only source of fresh water for much of inland Australia, and the largest and deepest in the world.
A spokesperson for the council said: ‘As a precaution, council is currently arranging the collection of further water samples to identify the extent of naegleria fowleri colonisation in the drinking water supplies serving the communities of Charleville and Augathella.
‘Samples will also be collected from the Morven supply as a precaution.’
The council is also reassuring residents that drinking water is still safe for human consumption, and boiling water for drinking, food preparation and personal hygiene is not necessary.
Council chief Bruce Scott said: ‘This public health risk is very new to council too, but we hope to have a suitably qualified person/s … to provide answers where possible.
‘Please observe the advice provided, and council is seeking your assistance to help spread the word on how to manage this risk sensibly and reassure people to remain calm until the public health unit, the water regulator and council can provide a mitigation strategy.’
While the amoeba has been detected in the water supply, there currently haven’t been any new recorded infections, ABC reports.
What is naegleria fowleri?
Naegleria fowleri is also commonly known as the ‘brain-eating amoeba’ because it can infect the brain and destroy brain tissue.
It is commonly found in warm freshwater environments and is considered to be one of the most dangerous water-borne microorganisms.
If water infected with the amoeba enters the nose and reaches the brain, it can cause a rare but serious infection called primary amoebic meningoencephalitis (PAM).
This is nearly always fatal, with a 97% fatality rate.
Between 1962 and 2024 in the US, of 167 reported cases of the illness, only four people survived, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Early PAM symptoms include a headache, fever, nausea, and vomiting, but as the illness progresses patients can develop a stiff neck, confusion, lack of attention to people and surroundings, loss of balance, and hallucinations.
Most people with PAM die within one to 18 days after symptoms first begin.
Brain infections caused by naegleria fowleri most often occur after someone goes swimming in a lake, river, or other fresh water during warm weather.
In a few cases, infection has occurred when victims used tap water containing the amoeba to rinse their sinuses or wash their faces.
However, you cannot get a naegleria fowleri infection from swallowing water containing the amoeba, or get an infection from someone else or pass it on to others.
The only way to get the infection is for naegleria fowleri-infested water to go up the nose and access the brain.
How to avoid a naegleria fowleri infection
Murweh Shire Council and the Queensland Public Health Unit advise:
- Do not allow water to go up your nose when bathing, showering or washing your face
- Supervise children when bathing, showering and washing their faces to prevent water from going up their nose
- Don’t allow children to play unsupervised with hoses or sprinklers and teach them not to squirt water up their nose
- Don’t put your head under water when bathing or swimming in pools filled with town water that has not been adequately chlorinated
- Avoid slip-n-slides and other activities where it is difficult to prevent water from going up the nose
- Avoid using the water for any form of nasal irrigation or nasal lavage
There have been five cases of PAM in the Queensland region since 2000, most recently one-year-old Cash Keough from Richmond who died in 2015.
Before that, five-year-old James Elliott died on Boxing Day 2001, and his half-sister 19-month-old Anabella Elliott died eight years later.
Children are thought to be more at risk because the sliver of bone which separates the brain from the nose inside the skull is underdeveloped in children, allowing the amoeba to pass through.
The illness is difficult to diagnose and there is no proven cure, meaning treatment even if caught early is rarely effective.
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