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Date:         Sun, 30 Sep 2007 11:49:42 -0600
Reply-To:     Tom Buese <tombuese@COMCAST.NET>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Tom Buese <tombuese@COMCAST.NET>
Subject:      Re: warning to those considering Buses by the Bridge!
              brain-eating amoeba...
Comments: To: Joy Hecht <hecht.joy@GMAIL.COM>
In-Reply-To:  <46feecec.14045a0a.6f8e.ffffa3d5@mx.google.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII; delsp=yes; format=flowed

On Sep 29, 2007, at 6:25 PM, Joy Hecht wrote:

> I got this on a kayak list - didn't think it had a vanagon > connection until > I realized where this amoeba was killing people!

I don't think Lake Havasu in January will be an amoeba problem! Now the rest of the year could be if you don't wear your nose plug w/ your thong?

Pax,

Tom B.-what about your ears?

> > > > > > > > Joy > > > > -----Original Message----- > From: nyckayaker-bounces@rockandwater.net > [mailto:nyckayaker-bounces@rockandwater.net] On Behalf Of David > Gottlieb > Sent: Saturday, September 29, 2007 8:27 AM > To: nyckayaker > Subject: NYCkayaker As if there aren't enough dangers to kayakers > outthere... > > > > This seems like an Enquirer headline... But it is for real.... > Better wear > > those nose clips.... > > > > Here is the link to the story below: > > > > http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/K/KILLER_AMOEBA? > SITE=KTVK&SECTION=HOME& > > TEMPLATE=DEFAULT > > > > Sep 29, 1:03 AM EDT > > > > 6 Die From Brain-Eating Amoeba in Lakes > > > > By CHRIS KAHN > > Associated Press Writer > > > > Other News Video > > > > Advertisement > > > > > > Buy AP Photo Reprints > > > > > > > > PHOENIX (AP) -- It sounds like science fiction but it's true: A killer > > amoeba living in lakes enters the body through the nose and attacks > the > > brain where it feeds until you die. > > > > Even though encounters with the microscopic bug are extraordinarily > rare, > > it's killed six boys and young men this year. The spike in cases > has health > > officials concerned, and they are predicting more cases in the future. > > > > "This is definitely something we need to track," said Michael Beach, a > > specialist in recreational waterborne illnesses for the Centers for > Disease > > Control and Prevention. > > > > "This is a heat-loving amoeba. As water temperatures go up, it does > better," > > Beach said. "In future decades, as temperatures rise, we'd expect > to see > > more cases." > > > > According to the CDC, the amoeba called Naegleria fowleri (nuh- > GLEER-ee-uh > > FOWL'-erh-eye) killed 23 people in the United States, from 1995 to > 2004. > > This year health officials noticed a spike with six cases - three in > > Florida, two in Texas and one in Arizona. The CDC knows of only > several > > hundred cases worldwide since its discovery in Australia in the 1960s. > > > > In Arizona, David Evans said nobody knew his son, Aaron, was > infected with > > the amoeba until after the 14-year-old died on Sept. 17. At first, > the teen > > seemed to be suffering from nothing more than a headache. > > > > "We didn't know," Evans said. "And here I am: I come home and I'm > burying > > him." > > > > After doing more tests, doctors said Aaron probably picked up the > amoeba a > > week before while swimming in the balmy shallows of Lake Havasu > (!!!), a > popular > > man-made lake on the Colorado River between Arizona and California. > > > > Though infections tend to be found in southern states, Naegleria lives > > almost everywhere in lakes, hot springs, even dirty swimming pools, > grazing > > off algae and bacteria in the sediment. > > > > Beach said people become infected when they wade through shallow > water and > > stir up the bottom. If someone allows water to shoot up the nose - > say, by > > doing a somersault in chest-deep water - the amoeba can latch onto the > > olfactory nerve. > > > > The amoeba destroys tissue as it makes its way up into the brain, > where it > > continues the damage, "basically feeding on the brain cells," Beach > said. > > > > People who are infected tend to complain of a stiff neck, headaches > and > > fevers. In the later stages, they'll show signs of brain damage > such as > > hallucinations and behavioral changes, he said. > > > > Once infected, most people have little chance of survival. Some > drugs have > > stopped the amoeba in lab experiments, but people who have been > attacked > > rarely survive, Beach said. > > > > "Usually, from initial exposure it's fatal within two weeks," he said. > > > > Researchers still have much to learn about Naegleria. They don't > know why, > > for example, children are more likely to be infected, and boys are > more > > often victims than girls. > > > > "Boys tend to have more boisterous activities (in water), but we're > not > > clear," Beach said. > > > > In central Florida, authorities started an amoeba phone hot line > advising > > people to avoid warm, standing water and areas with algae blooms. > Texas > > health officials also have issued warnings. > > > > People "seem to think that everything can be made safe, including > any river, > > any creek, but that's just not the case," said Doug McBride, a > spokesman for > > the Texas Department of State Health Services. > > > > Officials in the town of Lake Havasu City are discussing whether to > take > > action. "Some folks think we should be putting up signs. Some > people think > > we should close the lake," city spokesman Charlie Cassens said. > > > > Beach cautioned that people shouldn't panic about the dangers of the > > brain-eating bug. Cases are still extremely rare considering the > number of > > people swimming in lakes. The easiest way to prevent infection, > Beach said, > > is to use nose clips when swimming or diving in fresh water. > > > > "You'd have to have water going way up in your nose to begin with" > to be > > infected, he said. > > > > David Evans has tried to learn as much as possible about the amoeba > over the > > past month. But it still doesn't make much sense to him. His family > had gone > > to Lake Havasu countless times. Have people always been in danger? > Did city > > officials know about the amoeba? Can they do anything to kill them > off? > > > > Evans lives within eyesight of the lake. Temperatures hover in the > triple > > digits all summer, and like almost everyone else in this desert > region, the > > Evanses look to the lake to cool off. > > > > It was on David Evans' birthday Sept. 8 that he brought Aaron, his > other two > > children, and his parents to Lake Havasu. They ate sandwiches and > spent a > > few hours splashing around. > > > > "For a week, everything was fine," Evans said. > > > > Then Aaron got the headache that wouldn't go away. At the hospital, > doctors > > first suspected meningitis. Aaron was rushed to another hospital in > Las > > Vegas. > > > > "He asked me at one time, 'Can I die from this?'" David Evans said. > "We > > said, 'No, no.'" > > > > On Sept. 17, Aaron stopped breathing as his father held him in his > arms. > > > > "He was brain dead," Evans said. Only later did doctors and the CDC > > determine that the boy had been infected with Naegleria. > > > > "My kids won't ever swim on Lake Havasu again," he said. > > > > --- > > > > On the Net: > > > > More on the N. fowleri amoeba: > > > > http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dpd/parasites/naegleria/factsht- > naegleria.htm#what


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