India Don Raise Alarm As ‘Brain-Eating’ Amoeba Infection Don Double

India don issue health alert after cases and death wey rare water-born “brain-eating” amoeba cause don double compared to last year for Kerala, wey be one southern state. Numbers still small, but Altaf Ali, doctor wey dey inside government task force to stop di spread, tell AFP say dem dey run plenty tests all over di state to find and treat di cases. Officials report say dis year dem get 19 deaths and 72 infections from Naegleria fowleri amoeba, with nine deaths and 24 cases just for September alone. Last year, dis amoeba kill nine people out of 36 reported cases. US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) talk say dem dey call am “brain-eating amoeba” because e fit “infect di brain and destroy brain tissue.” If di amoeba reach di brain, e fit cause infection wey dey kill over 95 percent of di people wey catch am. Di infections dey “very rare but almost always dey cause death,” di CDC talk.

Di amoeba dey live for warm lakes and rivers, and people dey catch am when contaminated water enter dia nose. E no fit spread from person to person. World Health Organization talk say symptoms include headache, fever, and vomiting, wey quickly go reach “seizures, confusion, hallucinations, and coma.” Ali talk say, “E dey worry say dis year new cases don show everywhere for di state, no be like before wey dem just dey for certain areas.” Since 1962, nearly 500 cases don report for di whole world, mostly for United States, India, Pakistan, and Australia.