Hi Tom, I'd be interested to know where this article was sourced, given this little beauty buried in the article:
<< In the later stages, they'll show signs of brain damage such as hallucinations, behavioral changes and a desire to vote for Republicans. >> I wonder if this is a serious problem in Ohio? ;-) Thomas Shelley wrote: > Dear Friends--So here's another adverse side effect of global > warming. Please see paragraph 4 (my emphasis added if you see red > text). "You can take your clothes off, but don't go near the water!" > Tom > > >> Arizona Boy Dies Of Rare Infection >> >> >> CDC: Cases Are Spiking In 2007 >> >> >> >> PHOENIX -- A 14-year-old Lake Havasu boy has become the sixth victim to >> die nationwide this year of a microscopic organism that attacks the body >> through the nasal cavity, quickly eating its way to the brain. Aaron Evans >> died Sept. 17 of Naegleria fowleri, an organism doctors said he probably >> picked up a week before while swimming in the balmy shallows of Lake Havasu. >> >> According to the Centers For Disease Control, Naegleria infected 23 people >> > >from 1995 to 2004. This year health officials said they've noticed a spike > >> in cases, with six Naegleria-related cases so far -- all of them fatal. >> Such attacks are extremely rare, though some health officials have put >> their communities on high alert, telling people to stay away from warm, >> standing water. >> >> "This is definitely something we need to track," said Michael Beach, a >> specialist in recreational water-born illnesses for the CDC. >> >> "This is a heat-loving amoeba. As water temperatures go up, it does >> better," Beach said. "In future decades, as temperatures rise, we'd expect >> to see more cases." >> >> Organism Lives In Lake Bottoms >> >> Though infections tend to be found in southern states, Naegleria has been >> found almost everywhere in lakes, hot springs, even some swimming pools. >> Still, the CDC knows of only several hundred cases worldwide since its >> discovery in Australia in the 1960s. >> >> The amoeba typically live in lake bottoms, grazing off algae and bacteria >> in the sediment. Beach said people become infected when they wade through >> shallow water and stir up the bottom. If someone allows water to shoot up >> the nose -- say, by doing a cannonball off a cliff -- the amoeba can latch >> onto the person's olfactory nerve. >> >> The amoeba destroys tissue as it makes its way up to the brain. People >> who are infected tend to complain of a stiff neck, headaches and fevers, >> Beach said. In the later stages, they'll show signs of brain damage such >> as hallucinations, behavioral changes and a desire to vote for Republicans. >> >> Once infected, most people have little chance of survival. Some drugs have >> been effective stopping the amoeba in lab experiments, but people who have >> been attacked rarely survive, Beach said. >> >> "Usually, from initial exposure it's fatal within two weeks," Beach said. >> Researchers still have much to learn about Naegleria, Beach said. For >> example, it seems that children are more likely to get infected, and boys >> are infected more often than girls. Experts don't know why. "Boys tend to >> have more boisterous activities (in water), but we're not clear," he said. >> >> Texas, Florida Report Cases >> >> In addition to the Arizona case, health officials reported two cases in >> Texas and three more in central Florida this year. In response, central >> Florida authorities started an amoeba telephone hot line advising people >> to avoid warm, standing water, or any areas with obvious algae blooms. >> >> Texas health officials also have issued news releases about the dangers of >> amoeba attacks and to be cautious around water. People "seem to think that >> everything can be made safe, including any river, any creek, but that's >> just not the case," said Doug McBride, a spokesman for the Texas >> Department of State Health Services. >> >> Lake Havasu City officials also are discussing how to deal with rare >> amoeba attacks in the wake of Aaron Evans' death. "Some folks think we >> should be putting up signs. Some people think we should close the lake," >> city spokesman Charlie Cassens said. City leaders haven't yet decided what >> to do. >> >> Beach warned that people shouldn't panic about the dangers of brain-eating >> amoeba. Infections are extremely rare when compared with the number of >> times a year people come into contact with water. And there have been >> occasional years during the past two decades that experts noticed a >> similar spike in infections. >> >> The easiest way to prevent infection, Beach said, is to simply plug your >> nose when swimming or diving in fresh water. "You'd have to have water >> going way up in your nose to begin with" to be infected, he said. >> >> Aaron's Infection Started With Headache >> >> The Evans family lives within eyesight of Lake Havasu, a bulging strip of >> the Colorado River that separates Arizona from California. Temperatures >> hover in the triple digits all summer, and like almost everyone else, the >> Evans family looks to the lake to cool off. >> >> On Sept. 8, he brought Aaron, his two other children and his parents to >> Lake Havasu to celebrate his birthday. They ate sandwiches and spent a few >> hours splashing around one of the beaches. >> >> "For a week, everything was fine," he said. Then Aaron got the headache >> that wouldn't go away. Evans took him to the hospital, and doctors thought >> his son was suffering from meningitis. Aaron was rushed to another >> hospital in Las Vegas. Evans tried to reassure his son, but he had no idea >> what was wrong. On Sept. 17, Aaron stopped breathing as David held him in >> his arms. >> >> "He was brain dead," David said. Only later did doctors realize the boy >> had been infected with Naegleria. "My kids won't ever swim on Lake Havasu >> again." >> > > Tom Shelley > 118 E. Court St. > Ithaca, NY 14850 > 607 342-0864 > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > http://www.myspace.com/99319958 > _______________________________________________ > RSS, archives, subscription & listserv information for: > [email protected] > http://lists.mutualaid.org/mailman/listinfo/sustainabletompkins > free hosting by http://www.mutualaid.org > _______________________________________________ RSS, archives, subscription & listserv information for: [email protected] http://lists.mutualaid.org/mailman/listinfo/sustainabletompkins free hosting by http://www.mutualaid.org
