Climate Change Could Be Spreading The Worst Parasite In The World

That refreshing dive into a summer lake might hide an invisible danger. Naegleria fowleri - often called the brain-eating amoeba - once stuck mainly to warm southern waters. Now it's showing up in places that never worried about it before (1).

Recent Cases Paint a Pattern

In 2022, one Missouri resident died from the amoeba, having acquired the infection from Iowa's Lake of Three Fires, a body of water previously considered too cold for Naegleria fowleri. That was a troubling expansion of the area where this killer parasite can live.

Reported Cases According to the CDC, from 1962 through 2022 (2):

•        Total US cases: 157 reported cases