Overview
- State health officials confirmed late Thursday that a central North Carolina teenager has a laboratory‑confirmed Naegleria fowleri infection and is critically ill and receiving medical care.
- The infection causes primary amebic meningoencephalitis (PAM), a rare brain infection that typically progresses quickly and often proves fatal within about five days of symptom onset.
- Naegleria fowleri lives in warm freshwater and infects people only when contaminated water is forced up the nose during activities like diving, jumping or stirring up sediment.
- Officials are investigating where the teen was exposed and have withheld identifying details to protect the family’s privacy while the probe continues.
- Health agencies stressed prevention steps—hold the nose or use nose clips, keep the head above water, avoid diving in shallow warm water, and use sterile water for nasal rinses—and noted U.S. cases remain very rare, with fewer than 10 typically reported each year.