Naegleria fowleri infections are rare and devastating. From 2005 to 2014, 35 infections were reported in the U.S. All but two were fatal.

• Naegleria fowleri is a warm water-loving ameba found around the world, often in warm or hot freshwater (lakes, rivers, and hot springs).

• Naegleria fowleri ameba can travel up the nose and into the brain. This causes the disease primary amebic meningoencephalitis (PAM), which destroys brain tissue and causes brain swelling and death.

• Of 133 people known to be infected in the U.S. since 1962, only three people survived.

CS254858_A

naegleria_factsheet508c.pdf

Stephen B. Thacker CDC Library collection