Florida residents warned about tap water after man dies from brain-eating amoeba

 Nearly a quarter million Floridians are being warned to avoid washing their face with tap water after a man died from a brain-eating amoeba in February.

The advice, which applies to the nearly 200,000 residents of Charlotte County, comes after a county resident died on February 20.

Officials believe the anonymous man caught the brain-eating infection from washing his face and rinsing his sinuses with infected tap water.

Infections from Naegleria fowleri, a microscopic single-celled amoeba, are very rare. The infection is known as primary amebic meningoencephalitis (PAM) and occurs when contaminated water enters the nose.

The disease has no known effective treatments, killing roughly 97% of those who contract it. Only four patients have survived the infection in the U.S. from 1962 to 2021...more