A deadly brain-eating amoeba has been released into Florida’s water systems after Hurricane Irma, according to Dr. Manny Alvarez, who told warns that hundreds of Floridians have already been diagnosed with the “99% fatal” disease.
The amoeba, which is untreatable by antibiotics, is thriving in Florida’s stagnant flood waters and damaged water systems. Finding itself in a “perfect environment” in the post-Irma carnage, the amoeba is reproducing at a rate previously considered impossible by scientists.
Dr. Manny Alvarez appeared on Fox News to issue urgent advice to Floridians traveling home to houses that were evacuated during Hurricane Irma.
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“What we’re talking about is this brain eating amoeba, that has been popping up as of late. There have been 143 cases. It’s almost 99% fatal.
“The problem is you get it from contaminated water. Typically you get it through your nose. Let’s say you’re swimming in a contaminated lake, in a hot spring, or any kind of pond that you think is safe – no it’s not, especially down in the south where it’s very, very warm – and once this amoeba, which is a parasite, gets through your nostrils, it goes right into your brain, and then it gives you a disease that when they take you to the hospital most doctors don’t think of it, and by the time they give you a diagnosis it’s too late, because, again, antibiotics cannot treat it.”
Urgent advice
“One of the things we are telling people now as people are going back to Florida, let’s say your house has been empty for a long time and you have stagnant water in your pipes, or in your swimming pool, when you go into an empty house, one that has not had running water a long time, the stagnation of water in the pipes, along with the heat, can lead to this amoeba being present. So we are saying to people run your water for at least fifteen minutes before you even think of utilizing that water.
“The symptoms are that you get the fever, you get the nauseousness, you get the confusion. If you have this ingestion of the amoeba, it goes up through your nose, through your nerve fibers into your brain tissue, and then within two or three days you start seeing inflammation of the covering of the brain, then it brings all the typical visual disturbances, nauseousness, headaches, and that kind of stuff.”
So what can Floridians do to avoid the brain-eating parasite from entering your nostrils, using your brain as its host and infecting your body with a fatal disease?
1. After returning home for the first time, run your taps for at least fifteen minutes before even thinking of using the water.
2. Drain your swimming pool and replace the water.
3. Do not swim in lakes, hot springs or ponds in affected areas until they have been tested and declared safe.
4. If you experience fever, nauseousness, visual disturbances, or confusion, seek medical help immediately.
