The topic of the current event article this week as reported on CNN on Monday, August 31, 2015 is “Brain-eating Amoeba that killed a 14-year-old star athlete.” Brain eating amoeba, originally named Naegleria Fowleri Amoeba , is a rare bacteria that lives mostly in the southern states. ” This amoeba is a single celled organism that can cause a brain infection called primary amoebic Meningoencephalitis by entertaining through the nose and traveling to the brain,” reports the Center for Disease Control.

Young male athlete, Michael John Riley Junior, was about to embark on his first year of high school. On August 13, 2015 the teen who resides in Houston accompanied his teammates as they swim in a local pond in the Sam Houston State Park. His time spent in the pond is where Michael encountered and contracted this amoeba. Within a short matter of days following the outing what started out as a headache quickly escalated into complete loss of brain activity and function with him eventually passing away Sunday, August 30, 2015.

Upon contact with this amoeba there is a reported 99.7% fatality rate. Out of the past cases within a span of 53 years, 133 people have fallen sick due to exposure to the amoeba and 130 of them died. Most of these cases took place in Texas, Florida, Arkansas, Arizona in California which can be startling and detrimental to one’s anxiety levels if they reside in one of the southern states. I think The general public can take precautionary measures that will keep them safe considering the rarity of cases, however, being informed and aware of the fact surrounding this type of anoeba can assist in contact prevention. This problem affects not only the USA but the world because of the lives lost as well as the indigenous nature of this bacterial micro organism throughout the worlds freshwater sources.

Therefore, if someone does find themselves in a freshwater pond, lake or stream they should refrain from stirring up the sediment on the water bottoms as this is where the bacteria is said to live. Exercising this safeguard practice can quite possibly be the difference between a typical outdoor water outing and a visit to the morgue.