Overview

• An adult Missouri resident is in intensive care with a laboratory-confirmed Naegleria fowleri infection, the state health department announced.
• Preliminary findings suggest the patient fell ill days after waterskiing at the Lake of the Ozarks, which is under investigation as the likely exposure site.
• No other suspected primary amebic meningoencephalitis cases are being probed in Missouri, where 167 infections have been recorded nationwide from 1962 to 2024.
• Public-health agencies are urging freshwater users to hold their nose shut, use nose clips or keep their head above water and to use sterile or boiled water for nasal rinses.
• Researchers warn that rising water temperatures, flooding and sediment disturbances can fuel amoeba growth, a concern underscored by recent detections of Naegleria fowleri in Queensland drinking-water systems.