6 Die From Brain-Eating Amoeba in Lakes (Fla., Ariz., Texas)

[Newsjock]

Source: Associated Press

It sounds like science fiction but it's true: A killer amoeba living in lakes enters the body through the nose and attacks the brain where it feeds until you die.

Even though encounters with the microscopic bug are extraordinarily rare, it's killed six boys and young men this year. The spike in cases has health officials concerned, and they are predicting more cases in the future.

"This is definitely something we need to track," said Michael Beach, a specialist in recreational waterborne illnesses for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

... According to the CDC, the amoeba called Naegleria fowleri (nuh-GLEER-ee-uh FOWL'-erh-eye) killed 23 people in the United States, from 1995 to 2004. This year health officials noticed a spike with six cases — three in Florida, two in Texas and one in Arizona. The CDC knows of only several hundred cases worldwide since its discovery in Australia in the 1960s.

Read more: http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2007/09/28/national/a111812D52.DTL&tsp=1

[acmavm]

1. OMG, what next? I thought bush** & Co. were enough.

[Auggie]

2. Nature always has the last laugh

[NV Whino]

3. Well there ya go...

Now we know what's wrong with Bush. They even spell it phonetically for him. (Nuh-GLEER-ee-uh FOWL'-erh-eye)

[Tandalayo_Scheisskopf]

4. Hmm...

How much does Dear Leader swim in lakes and ponds? This could answer a lot of questions.

[Ikonoklast]

5. If the amoeba feed on brain tissue

They would have starved to death on what Chimpy had to offer.

[Mabus]

8. gmta

I think I started my post while you were posting yours. But I said the same thing.

:hi:

[Mabus]

6. You give him more credit than I do

I would have thought those poor amoebas would have already starved to death.

[porphyrian]

7. It's been able to flourish in red states, unnoticed. - n/t

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

9. Well, Dubya has nothing to fear.