"Officials on Wednesday said Kerala had registered 69 cases of primary amoebic meningoencephalitis since the start of 2025, including 19 deaths, following contact with the Naegleria fowleri amoeba. Three of the deaths were recorded in the last month, including that of a three-month-old baby. list of 3 itemsend of list Last year, there were nine deaths of 36 reported cases."
"The amoeba, which does not spread from person to person, lives in warm lakes and rivers and is contracted by contaminated water entering the nose. Unlike last year, we are not seeing clusters linked to a single water source, state Health Minister Veena George was quoted as saying by NDTV news. These are single, isolated cases, which has complicated our epidemiological investigations."
"The Kerala government has begun chlorinating wells, water tanks and public bathing areas, and areas where people are likely to bathe and come in contact with the amoeba, NDTV reported. While numbers remain low, a doctor who is part of a government task force to prevent the spread, said officials were conducting tests on a large scale across the state to detect and treat cases."
Kerala has registered 69 cases of primary amoebic meningoencephalitis and 19 deaths in 2025 after contact with the Naegleria fowleri amoeba, more than double the 36 cases and nine deaths reported last year. The amoeba lives in warm lakes and rivers and infects people when contaminated water enters the nose; it does not spread between people. New cases are geographically dispersed as single, isolated incidents, complicating epidemiological tracing. The government has started chlorinating wells, water tanks and public bathing sites and is conducting large-scale testing and treatment. Infections are rare but generally fatal once the brain is reached, with mortality above 95%.
Read at www.aljazeera.com
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