Texas brain-eating amoeba killed boy, officials say

ARLINGTON, Texas – A child has died after being infected with a rare brain-eating amoeba that was found at a Texas wading pool he visited, and an examination found deficiencies in water quality testing in several parks, officials said on Monday.

Officials in Arlington, located between Dallas and Fort Worth, said the city and Tarrant County Public Health were informed on September 5 that a child had been hospitalized with primary amoebic meningoencephalitis, a rare infection and often fatal caused by the amoeba Naegleria fowleri. The boy, who has not been identified by authorities, died in hospital on September 11.

After learning of the child’s illness, health officials began to investigate and shut down all public fountains in the city. City officials said the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention confirmed the presence of the amoeba in water samples from the Don Misenhimer Park water jets area on Friday.

A review “identified gaps in our daily inspection program,” Deputy City Manager Lemuel Randolph said. “These shortcomings have prevented us from meeting our maintenance standards on our splash-proof rinks. “

City officials say records from two of the four playgrounds – at Don Misenhimer Park and the Beacon Recreation Center – show that parks and recreation workers have not consistently logged in, or in some cases failed to register. not carried out, the required water quality tests before the facilities open every day.

City officials said a review of inspection logs from Don Misenhimer’s splash zone found that the water chlorination readings had not been documented on two of the three dates on which the child was there in late August and early September.

City officials say Arlington’s drinking water supply has not been affected and the splash-proof area is fitted with a backflow preventer designed to isolate its water from the water distribution system from the city.

The CDC says Naegleria fowleri infections are rare, with only 34 reported in the United States from 2010 to 2019. People are infected when water containing amoeba enters the body through the nose, usually when people go swimming or snorkeling in lakes and rivers.