Species
Naegleria
Algae and Protists
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Naegleria fowleri is a free-living amoeba found in warm fresh water such as lakes, hot springs and poorly maintained swimming pools, widely known by the nickname the brain-eating amoeba. Infection is extremely rare and occurs only when contaminated water is forced up the nose, allowing the organism to travel along the olfactory nerve into the brain, where it causes an almost always fatal illness called primary amoebic meningoencephalitis; it cannot infect a person through drinking contaminated water or through contact between people.
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