Produced by: Mohsin Shaikh
Kerala has logged 69 cases and 19 deaths from Naegleria fowleri this year alone — numbers that make it one of the deadliest hot spots for the “brain-eating amoeba” worldwide.
Representatitve pic
PAM begins like meningitis — fever, nausea, stiff neck — but quickly turns fatal as the amoeba chews through brain tissue, leaving doctors racing against swelling and seizures.
Drinking contaminated water is harmless. The real danger comes when untreated freshwater enters the nose — while swimming, bathing, or even playing with hoses.
Fewer than 500 cases have ever been reported worldwide, yet Kerala has seen over 120 in just two years — a staggering concentration baffling health experts.
Warmer monsoons, stagnant ponds, and heavy freshwater use create ideal breeding grounds. Climate change is expected to fuel more outbreaks in coming years.
Though often striking young swimmers, Kerala’s 2025 cases span from a 3-month-old infant to a 91-year-old, shattering assumptions about who is most at risk.
By the time PAM is diagnosed, it’s usually too late. Only a handful of global survivors were treated before the amoeba reached the brain, using experimental drug cocktails.
“We are testing every meningoencephalitis case for amoeba,” Kerala health minister Veena George vowed, stressing early detection as the only real shot at survival.
Officials urge residents: avoid stagnant ponds, use nose clips in untreated water, keep pools chlorinated, and only use boiled or sterile water for nasal rinses.