Lethal Amoeba Found in Water Supply System in St.Bernard

Parish officials have issued a warning to people in St. Bernard to be careful about the water supply in the area. This warning has been issued following the death of a four-year-old boy after he suffered a life threatening condition due to contact with a rare amoeba.

St. Bernard President Dave Peralta said that people need to take certain precautions around water. "I would not allow unsupervised use of sprinklers or hoses or slip and slides by children," said Peralta.

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Tests revealed that the water present at the place in Violet, where the boy had visited, contained amoeba. "Two sites from fire hydrants came up with the presence and two sites at water bibs, which is the water facets at people houses," said Peralta.

St. Bernard officials also confirmed that they did not know about this problem until two weeks after the boy died.

Louisiana state epidemiologist Dr. Raoult Ratard said, “A child died and nobody knew why. They look at all kind of viruses and everything and the answer came that this was due to the amoeba. If there is not enough chlorine, the amoeba will survive. If put high enough chlorination, the chances of that (amoeba) surviving is lower."

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St. Bernard is now on a mission to completely clean their water system by using high amounts of chlorine to destroy the amoeba.

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Source-Medindia