“To the city of Lake Jackson, not Brazoria County, Texas, faces significant threats to life, health and property due to contaminated drinking water”, Warned local authorities in an urgent request sent to the governor of that state, Greg Abbott, for him to issue an emergency declaration.
“The impact of this threat is severe. Potential damages include illness and death ”, stressed the autarchy, which placed the city of 27 thousand inhabitants under the prohibition of water consumption.
The amoeba found in the water supply chain in this Texas city is called naegleria fowleri and can usually be found in fresh water – usually lakes, rivers, spas or untreated pools.
Known for “eating brains”, it is the only species of amoeba of the naeleria type that can infect humans. The infection can result in inflammation in the brain, more specifically meningoencephalitis. Infections with the bacterium naegleria fowleri are rare, but almost always fatal. Of the 145 people infected between 1962 and 2018, only four survived.
The seriousness of the threat led the Texas Environmental Quality Commission to issue a warning to all residents whose water is distributed by the Brazosport Water Authority water treatment plant not to use it.
At the time of its release, this warning was not just for the city of Lake Jackson, where the amoeba was discovered on Friday morning, but also to the adjacent Texas cities of Freeport, Angleton, Brazoria, Richwood, Oyster Creek, Clute and Rosenberg. However it was raised in all cities.
“The Texas Environmental Quality Commission, under orders from the governor’s office, is working with the Brazosport Water Authority to resolve this issue as quickly as possible,” the organization said at the time.
To solve the problem, the water treatment plant serving the affected region has completed a flush from its water system.
Infections are rare but fatal
The incident, only now publicly disclosed, actually started on September 8, when a six-year-old boy was hospitalized and the presence of this amoeba was detected. According to local authorities, the origin of the amoeba may have been water from a city fountain or water from the hose in the child’s own home.
For security, the source was immediately deactivated and a private laboratory was contracted to carry out tests on a sample of almost 20 liters of water taken from that source.
The results came out negative on September 14 for this bacterium, so the US Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) was then contacted for further testing.
On September 25, last Friday, the CDC revealed that three of the 11 water samples had tested positive for naegleria fowleri, prompting the Texas Environmental Quality Commission to issue the notice.
TCEQ Investigators are on the scene in Lake Jackson to conduct water sampling.
The Brazosport Water Authority has lifted the Do Not Use Water Advisory for all areas except Lake Jackson. #TakeCareOfTexas pic.twitter.com/5pOk0sHGOE
— Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (@TCEQ) September 26, 2020
The entity then decided to test the chlorine levels in the waters of the city of Lake Jackson. While the distribution system was stopped, until the dawn of this Sunday, residents were able to receive bottled water free of charge.
According to the American Center for Disease Control and Prevention, infections caused by this bacterium are rare, but almost always fatal. Between 2009 and 2018, only 34 cases were reported in the United States. Of these, 30 resulted from the recreational use of water.
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