A Florida person is dead after contracting an incredibly rare “brain-eating” infection that appears to have come from tap water, federal health officials said.
The person was infected with Naegleria fowleri after rinsing their nose with tap water, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention told Fox 4. The patient died on Feb. 20.
“The adult patient reportedly performed nasal rinsing daily with unboiled tap water, which is thought to be the source of the infection,” the CDC said in a statement to the station.
The CDC additionally said this was the first case of the deadly infection this year and the first ever reported in the winter months in the US, according to the station.
The CDC did not detail where the person lived in the state, but state health officials said in a news release last Thursday there was a case of Naegleria fowleri that took place in Charlotte County, located in the southwest part of the Sunshine State.
Local officials would not confirm to Fox 4 if the person who died was the case they alerted the public to.
When contacted by The Post, the CDC provided no further information and deferred to the state health department.
“DOH-Charlotte, as part of a multi-agency response, is continuing to investigate how this infection occurred and is working with the local public utilities to identify any potential link and make any necessary corrective actions,” the Florida Department of Health said in the press release about the case.
Naegleria fowleri is a single-celled living organism that can live in fresh water and is commonly called the “brain-eating amoeba,” according to the CDC.
Water that contains amoeba can go up through the nose and cause a brain infection, according to the CDC.
Only about three people get infected with it yearly, but those cases usually turn fatal, the federal health agency said.
Between 1962 and 2022, there were 157 confirmed cases in the nation, and 37 cases tied to Florida, the CDC said.
There has never been a confirmed case in New York, according to the federal agency.
The Florida health department advised people to not let water go up their noses while showering or washing their faces and if they use a sinus rinse solution, to only use distilled or sterile water.
State health officials stressed that people can’t contract the infection by drinking tap water.