Identification and classification of the aettological agents of primary amebic meningo‐Encephalitis

Abstract

The history of pathogenic "free-living" amebae is briefly reviewed. An appraisal of methods of identification is made, and of a range of practicable methods is presented. The three current classification schemes are discussed.

The occurrence and distribution of pathogenic free‐living amoebae in thermal areas of the North Island of New Zealand

“…Many authors (Carter 1970;Culbertson 1971;Chang 1974;Cursons & Brown 1976;Cerva 1978) have reported that N. fowleri is extremely sensitive to 0.5-1.0% NaCl. Besides the chemical composition of the waters, both temperature and pH also affect the distribution of these amoebae; Stevens et al (1977) recorded a temperature range of 35-38°C, for the isolation of N. fowleri from thermally polluted lakes, and Wellings et al (1977) recorded a range of 16-34.5°C.…”

“…Situated south of Rotorua in Taupo, this pool was chosen as it was the site of the 1974 fatal case of PAM in New Zealand (Cursons & Brown 1976). This is also a natural thermal pool, the hot water source being a thermal spring.…”

“…The preparation of the media and the methods used for the isolation and identification of PFLA were fully described by Cursons & Brown (1976), who presented a detailed flow diagram of isolation and identification strategy. This strategy depends on the elucidation of cultural, physiological, morphological, serological, and pathogenicity differences between the genera and species of Acanthamoeba and Naegleria.…”

“…The lack of isolation of N. fowleri in the Gisborne pools is possibly a consequence of their very high halide ion content (Table 3) which has been shown to be inhibitory to N. fowleri (Culbertson 1971;Cursons & Brown 1976. Conversely, the isolation of a pathogenic Acanthamoeba sp.…”

“…The free-living amoebae, pathogenic strains of which are the aetiological agents of primary amoebic meningo-encephalitis (PAM) (Cursons & Brown 1976) and granulomatous amoebic encephalitis (GAE) (Martinez 1980), appear to be truly ubiquitous organisms. Isolations have been recorded from a variety of environments such as air (Kingston & Warhurst 1968), humidifier systems (United Kingdom M.R.C.…”