MOHAVE COUNTY, Ariz. (KTNV) — A brain eating amoeba scare out of Arizona has been determined to be a false alarm after the CDC confirms recent testing came back negative.
On Tuesday, officials in Mohave County, Arizona sent specimens off to a lab, suspecting a case of life-threatening Naegleria Fowleri.
The cases are extremely rare, with only 29 infections recorded from 2013-2022. One of those cases, however, was on the Arizona side of Lake Mead just last year.
In 2022, a Nevada resident had a confirmed case of Naegleria Fowleri after being exposed in Kingman Wash.
Health officials say the following tips are most helpful in avoiding the dangerous amebae.
- Hold your nose shut, use nose clips, or keep your head above water when in bodies of warm fresh water.
- Avoid putting your head under water in hot springs and other untreated geothermal waters.
- Avoid digging in, or stirring up, the sediment in shallow, warm fresh water.
- The amebae are more likely to live in sediment at the bottom of lakes, ponds, and rivers.
