Deadly 'brain-eating amoeba' has expanded its range northward

[admin]

You can thank climate change for this too.

Deadly 'brain-eating amoeba' has expanded its range northward : Read more

 

[Chem721]

Primary amebic meningoencephalitis sure sounds like a nasty disease. It is even worse than it sounds.

It results after an amoeba found in warm freshwater, Naegleria fowleri, goes up the olfactory nerves in your nose to invade the brain and lay waste to it. Certainly seems like something to be avoided.

But it also provides yet another data point to demonstrate the seemingly inexorable increase in global warming. The study found that, quoting from the article:

"What's more, when the team used a model to examine trends in the maximum latitude of cases per year, they found that the maximum latitude had shifted about 8.2 miles (13.3 kilometers) northward per year during the study period."

end quote

To appreciate this analysis, these cases occurred over a forty year study period (1978-2018), which is a significant time frame for such a unique, infectious agent. In that time, the amoeba has migrated northward about 325 miles, a significant distance.

Take home message - don't swim in warm freshwater anywhere, regardless of how enticing it might look. There might be an amoeba in that water that wants your brain for dinner. No cooking required.