A visitor to an Iowa beach is being treated for an infection caused by a brain-eating amoeba, officials with Iowa’s Department of Public Health said.
Lake of Three Fires beach has been shut down temporarily as a precaution, NBC News reported.
“The closure is a precautionary response to a confirmed infection of Naegleria fowleri in a Missouri resident with recent potential exposure while swimming at the beach,” Iowa officials said in a news release, according to CNN.
Naegleria fowleri is a “microscopic single-celled free-living amoeba” that can cause primary meningoencephalitis or PAM, CNN reported.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said the amoeba can be found in soil and warm freshwater such as lakes, rivers and hot springs. It can also be found in unchlorinated pools or ones that are not maintained.
It is rare to be infected by the amoeba. The CDC said that there were 31 infections from 2012 to 2021. First symptoms include a headache, fever, nausea or vomiting about five days after infection. Later symptoms include stiff neck, confusion, lack of attention to people and surroundings, loss of balance, seizures and hallucinations. Death can occur about five days after the severe, later symptoms start.
The CDC is testing the lake to confirm the presence of Naegleria fowleri, CNN reported.
The person, who hails from Missouri, has been admitted to an intensive care unit in his home state to be treated for the condition, according to health officials there.
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