State Finds risky Amoeba In St. Bernard Water System

The system serves about 44,000 people in the area. Public health experts contended at the time that insufficient chlorine levels likely contributed to the presence of the amoeba in parts of St. Bernard’s water supply. There, the amoeba reproduces and the brain swelling and infection that follows is nearly always deadly.

The water system no longer tested positive for the amoeba back in February 2014.

Naegleria fowleri is an amoeba that occurs naturally in freshwater.

He said contaminated water leaked into the sampling site but not the entire parish water system.

The state notified local officials late Wednesday and requested that the parish raise chlorine levels in the water system for 60 days – a formula that officials say has been successful at eliminating the amoeba elsewhere.

Officials say the water is safe to drink, but residents are being warned not to get the water into their nose when washing, bathing or swimming.

By early 2014, state health officials said samplings from almost a dozen sites in St. Bernard had turned up no signs of the amoeba, which has killed at least three people in Louisiana since 2011.

This after state health officials confirmed the amoeba’s presence at a leaking sample station. Monthly reports revealed the water system has met all the requirements for disinfectant levels.

New regulations require a minimum disinfectant level of 0.5 milligram per liter of water throughout any parish water system – an amount believed to be effective in controlling the amoeba. So far, DHH has tested 12 other systems, including St. John the Baptist and DeSoto parishes, where there have been amoeba problems.

The amoeba can cause a disease known as primary amebic meningoencephalitis – a brain infection that leads to the destruction of brain tissue. Symptoms are highly similar to those of bacterial meningitis.

As said by the CDC, every resident can take simple steps to help reduce their risk of Naegleria fowleri infection. Also, small plastic pools need to be handled with special care, because they facilitate the water getting into the noses of children.

DO NOT jump into or put your head under bathing water (bathtubs, small hard plastic/blow-up pools); walk or lower yourself in. This means that the water from the public waterline remains safe for drinking and that they need to take all the necessary precautions so that water does not enter their noses. Avoid slip-n-slides or other activities where it is hard to prevent water going up the nose.

DO use only boiled and cooled, distilled or sterile water for making sinus rinse solutions for neti pots or performing ritual ablutions. Do not top off the pool by placing the hose in the body of the pool.

Hot tubs/spas: free chlorine 2 to 4 parts per million (ppm) or free bromine 4 to 6 ppm and pH 7.2 to 7.8.