An unnamed woman has died in Texas after succumbing to a terrifying brain-eating amoeba. It is believed the woman was infected with Naegleria fowleri, after using tap water in a sinus rinse. A case report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention suggests that the use of non-boiled water from her RV’s water system in the sinus-clearing device is the likely cause of infection. “The tank had been filled with water collected on an unknown date before the patient’s purchase of the RV 3 months earlier,” the report reads. Lab tests later confirmed the presence of N. fowleri in her brain fluid. The amoeba lives in warm, freshwater around the world and, while infection is rare, enters the body through the nasal passage, causing primary amebic meningoencephalitis or PAM. Fewer than 10 people contract the disease in the U.S. each year, but it is fatal in almost everyone who does. The CDC recommends the use of distilled, sterile, or boiled and cooled tap water for nasal irrigation.
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