Yahoo News Texas residents warned over brain-eating microbe in tap water
Residents of a city in Texas have been warned to be careful with tap water, after a deadly brain-eating microbe was found in the water supply.
Lake Jackson was one of eight communities in Texas that were told not to use tap water on Friday after tests confirmed the presence of Naegleria fowleri, an amoeba that can cause a brain infection.
Authorities launched the probe after the death of a six-year-old boy earlier this month.
Warnings were lifted for seven of the communities on Saturday but remain in place for Lake Jackson, a city of nearly 27,000 people near the coast, south-west of Houston.
City authorities said in a statement that people must boil tap water before drinking it. Residents were also told including to not to go up their noses while taking a shower or bath.
Children, people with weakened immune systems and the elderly are "particularly vulnerable," they added.
Officials are disinfecting the water system by flushing it out, but are unsure how long this will take.
Naegleria fowleri is found naturally in freshwater, and mostly infects people when they dive into contaminated bodies of water.
People cannot be infected simply by drinking it, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Nor can it be passed on from one person to another.
The infection is relatively rare in the US, with around 34 people falling sick between 2009 and 2018. Other infections have been seen in Australia and Pakistan.
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