Naegleria fowleri, popularly called the brain-eating amoeba, is a free-living single-celled organism that normally feeds on bacteria in warm fresh water such as lakes, rivers, hot springs and poorly chlorinated swimming pools, but can become a rare and almost always fatal human pathogen. Infection occurs when contaminated water is forced up the nose, typically during swimming or diving, allowing the amoeba to travel along the olfactory nerve into the brain, where it causes a severe brain infection called primary amoebic meningoencephalitis. The organism can shift between an amoeboid crawling form and a temporary flagellated swimming form. It is named for Malcolm Fowler, the Australian pathologist who published some of the first documented cases of the disease it causes, beginning in 1965.
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Classification
DietDetritivore or Scavenger 1 System (Realm) Scientific Name Conservation Status Connections
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In Biome
Source Naegleria fowleri (Wikipedia)
Sources
1. Naegleria fowleri (Wikipedia)
system (MediaWiki batch-API article extract states it plainly)
It is typically found in warm freshwater bodies such as lakes, rivers, hot springs, warm water discharge from industrial or power plants, geothermal well water, poorly maintained or minimally chlorinated swimming pools with residual chlorine levels under 0.
Article text: "This free-living microorganism primarily feeds o"
This free-living microorganism primarily feeds on bacteria, but can become pathogenic in humans, causing an extremely rare, sudden, severe, and almost always fatal brain infection known as primary amoebic meningoencephalitis (PAM), also known as naegleriasis.
- In Biome: Freshwater, Wikipedia intro: "rimary amoebic meningoencephalitis (PAM), also known as naegleriasis. It is typically found in warm freshwater bodies such as lakes, rivers, hot springs, warm w..."
In Group: Amoebae, Lead
Naegleria fowleri, also known as the brain-eating amoeba or brain-eating amoeboid, is a species of the genus Naegleria.
View the Source2. Wikipedia: Naegleria fowleri
3. GBIF (IUCN Red List category): GBIF IUCN Red List category for Naegleria fowleri
GBIF (IUCN Red List category)GBIF taxon key 3210448, category fieldQuote, GBIF taxon key 3210448, category field
"category": "NOT_EVALUATED"
IUCN Red List of Threatened Species
Wikidata: Naegleria
- Wikidata Q131273, class allow-list match (w-wdresolver-0926)
- Child Taxon Of: Eukarya, Wikidata parent-taxon (P171) chain
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