Lake of the Ozarks Labor Day Weekend: Brain-Eating Amoeba Risk

A person who contracted a rare brain-eating amoeba at the Lake of the Ozarks has died.

Now, officials continue urging caution ahead of the Labor Day weekend when a quarter million people could descend on the state’s famous lake, which has more coastline than California.

The patient, identified only as an adult from Missouri, died Tuesday at a St. Louis-area hospital, the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services said. Officials confirmed that the individual had contracted Naegleria fowleri, a microscopic amoeba that causes primary amebic meningoencephalitis, a rare but nearly always fatal brain infection often referred to as “brain-eating” disease, Fox News reported. The amoeba thrives in river and lake water at 80 to 115 degrees Fahrenheit, especially after storms.

The amoeba infects people when water enters the body through the nose, traveling to the brain, where it destroys brain tissue. Health officials stressed that the infection is extremely rare. Since 1962, only 167 cases have been documented nationwide. Missouri has confirmed just two other cases in its history, one in 1987 and another in 2022

Experts recommend these precautions for people who plan to visit the lake:

• Keep water out of your nose: Use nose clips or hold your nose shut when swimming or diving to prevent the amoeba from entering nasal passages. 
• Avoid stirring sediment: Do not stir up sediment in shallow, warm areas where the amoeba can thrive. 
• Use distilled or boiled water: If using a neti pot or sinus rinse, always use distilled, sterile or previously boiled water to minimize the risk of infection. 
• Be cautious in hot weather: The amoeba is most active in warm water, so take extra precautions during the summer months when water temperatures are higher. 
• Stay alert for symptoms, which can appear within one to 12 days of exposure and may include severe headache, fever, nausea, vomiting, stiff neck, seizures, confusion and hallucinations. Symptoms are likely to worsen over time.

–Alan Goforth