The Pathology of the Brain Eating Amoeba Naegleria fowleri

Abstract

The genus Naegleria is a taxonomic subfamily consisting of 47 free-living amoebae. The genus can be found in warm aqueous or soil habitats worldwide. The species Naegleria fowleri is probably the best-known species of this genus. As a facultative parasite, the protist is not dependent on hosts to complete its life cycle. However, it can infect humans by entering the nose during water contact, such as swimming, and travel along the olfactory nerve to the brain. There it causes a purulent meningitis (primary amoebic meningoencephalitis or PAME). Symptoms are severe and death usually occurs within the first week. PAME is a frightening infectious disease for which there is neither a proven cure nor a vaccine. In order to contain the disease and give patients any chance to survival, action must be taken quickly. A rapid diagnosis is therefore crucial. PAME is diagnosed by the detection of amoebae in the liquor and later in the cerebrospinal fluid. For this purpose, CSF samples are cultured and stained and finally examined microscopically. Molecular techniques such as PCR or ELISA support the microscopic analysis and secure the diagnosis.