Boy with rare brain-eating amoeba dies after Sea of Galilee swim
Baruch Neriya, 9, from Pardes Hanna succumbs to Naegleria fowleri infection; amoeba, contracted through the nose, is rare but highly fatal; Israel has seen 3 cases in recent years
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A nine-year-old boy died on Thursday after getting infected by a brain-eating amoeba during a swim in the Sea of Galilee earlier this month.
Baruch Neriya, a fourth-grader from Pardes Hanna, swam at Kursi Beach in early September.
About a week later, he was hospitalized at the Rambam Health Care Campus in Haifa after contracting encephalitis as a result of a rare amoeba of the Naegleria fowleri type.
The amoeba, which thrives in warm freshwater sources, causes an extremely rare but highly fatal infection of the central nervous system.
Infection occurs exclusively when contaminated water enters through the nose, allowing the organism to travel to the brain. It cannot be contracted by drinking water, nor does it spread from person to person.
Fewer than 500 cases have been reported worldwide since the infection was first identified in the 1960s, including two in the US over the past year. Israel has seen three recorded cases in recent years.
Symptoms begin with a high temperature, headaches, vomiting, nausea and neurological symptoms, usually affecting consciousness.
The Times of Israel Community.