Texas Officials Lift Deadly Brain-Eating Microbe Water Warning

Naegleria fowleri, a brain-eating amoeba, was found in the water supply of Brazosport Water Authority customers in Texas on Friday evening, forcing the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality to issue a water advisory and tell those customers to not to use any of their water. 

According to CNN,  the Do Not Use Water Advisory was initially issued for residents of Lake Jackson, Freeport, Angleton, Brazoria, Richwood, Oyster Creek, Clute, and Rosenberg, Texas, and also for the Dow Chemical plant in Freeport and the Clemens and Wayne Scott Texas Department of Criminal Justice corrections facilities. The warning has since been lifted for all cities listed except for Lake Jackson residents.

In fact, Lake Jackson officials have now issued a disaster declaration and residents are still being urged to not use their water until the Brazosport Water Authority has completed a thorough flush of its water system. On Sept. 8, a six-year-old boy was hospitalized with the amoeba, which is how state health officials became aware of the problem. A statement from Lake Jackson confirmed that the boy’s problem was traced back to either a water fountain “splash pad” in front of the Lake Jackson Civic Center, or through water emitted from a hose at the boy’s home.