The Republic of South Korea revealed the detection of the first infection with the disease, “Amoebae that can eat the human brain” or “Naegleria fowleri”, and the Korean Agency for Disease Control and Prevention noted that a Korean citizen died following returning from Thailand, following he was infected with Naegleria fowleri, which is able to infect Destroying human brains, according to Sky News Arabia, and the Korean Agency for Disease Control and Prevention pointed out that there are expectations regarding the transmission of infection from one person to another, but at a low age, according to what was reported by the South Korean “Yonhap” news agency.
Outbreak of a brain-eating amoeba in South Korea
The citizen, in his fifties, returned to South Korea on December 10 following staying in Thailand for four months, was transferred to a hospital the next day, and died last Tuesday. Brain-eating amoeba infection is the first known infection with the disease in South Korea, where it was diagnosed. The first case of this deadly disease that destroys the human brain was reported in the United States in 1937.
Naegleria fowleri is an amoeba found widely in warm freshwater lakes, rivers, canals and ponds all over the world. The amoeba is inhaled through the nose and transmitted to the brain to destroy brain tissue. It is reported that regarding 381 cases of Naegleria fowleri were reported until 2018 in the world. Including the United States of America, India and Thailand.
