‘Brain-Eating’ Amoeba Territory Is Expanding; Here’s How Swimmers Can Avoid Contact

Using a nose clip while swimming in a warm freshwater lake can prevent problems with parasites "outside the danger zone." Todd Quackenbush/Unsplash

A hidden danger is set to dampen the enjoyment of boating, swimming, and other aquatic sports in freshwater lakes and rivers during America’s summer months. It’s Naegleria fowleri—better known as a brain-eating amoeba—that lives within many of the nation’s waterways.

Hot summer temperatures and encounters with this organism tend to go hand in hand.