The August death of a 4-year-old McComb boy has prompted officials in Louisiana’s St. Bernard Parish to take precautions and issue warnings to residents after a brain-eating amoeba was found in the water supply.
Test results from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention confirmed the Naegleria fowleri amoeba was found in four locations of the St. Bernard Parish water system, the state Department of Health and Hospitals announced Thursday.
The amoeba killed Drake Smith Jr., the son of Drake and April Smith of McComb, after it got in his nose while he was playing on a “slip and slide” at a St. Bernard Parish house.
State health officials say the water is safe to drink but can pose a risk of infection if the amoeba enters a person’s nose.
St. Bernard Parish, a suburb of New Orleans, started flushing its water lines with additional chlorine last week as a precaution after the state linked the amoeba to the encephalitis death of the child.
The state says residents also can protect themselves by chlorinating their pools and avoiding getting water in their nose.
Earlier tests had confirmed the amoeba was present at the home.
Dr. Raoult Ratard, the state epidemiologist, said investigators suspect the boy became infected while he was playing.
“It was the only time where he was in contact with some water that could have penetrated all the way up into his nose,” Ratard said.
The process of flushing the parish’s water system with chlorine is expected to continue for several weeks. Ratard said the test results aren’t cause for residents to panic.
“You just have to be a little more careful,” he said.
