The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality warned the Brazosport Water Authority, along with Houston, on Friday about possible contamination of their supply by
Naegleria fowleri
, popularly known as the brain-eating amoeba.
The commission warned the public not to use tap water for any reason except to flush the bathroom faucet in Lake Jackson, Freeport, Angleton, Brazoria, Richwood, Oyster Creek, Clute and Rosenberg, as well as for Dow Chemical-Freeport and Clemens and Wayne Scott State Prison.
He specified that the notice will be maintained until the water system of the Brazosport authority has been thoroughly cleaned and tests show that the water is safe again, without clarifying how long it will take until that happens.
The source of water for the Brazosport Water Authority comes from the Brazos River.
The
Naegleria fowleri
is a microscopic single -
celled amoeba commonly found in fresh water and soil, according to
the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC in English).
It usually infects people when contaminated water enters the body through the nose, from where it travels to the brain, and can cause a disease called primary amebic meningoencephalitis.
The usually fatal infection is usually contracted when people go swimming or diving in warm, fresh water such as lakes and rivers.
In very rare cases, infections can also occur when contaminated water from other sources (such as pool water with inadequate chlorine or heated and contaminated tap water) enters the nose.
With information from AP.
