美國再現"食腦蟲"

A rare brain-eating amoeba that killed a six-year-old boy has been found in the water supply of a city in southeastern Texas, prompting environmental officials to take steps to flush and disinfect the pipes.

一種少見的食腦蟲在德克薩斯州的西南方供水處被發現了，這種蟲子已經造成一位6歲男孩的死亡。環境執法人員已經開始沖刷和消毒供水管。

Josiah McIntyre, who had just started elementary school in Lake Jackson, fell ill in the first week of September with a headache and flu-like symptoms. Days later, after a battery of tests, doctors at Texas Children's Hospital determined that he had been infected by Naegleria fowleri, a microscopic amoeba found in rivers, lakes and hot springs. If ingested through the nose it can cause primary amebic meningoencephalitis, a rare debilitating disease that is usually fatal.

約西亞·麥金太爾，一名在傑克遜湖區剛開始讀小學的學生，在九月開學的第一週感到不適和頭痛，接着伴隨着流感相似的症狀。幾天後，經過一連串的考試，在德克薩斯州兒童醫院的醫生診斷出他感染了福氏納格里阿米巴原蟲，一種微型變形蟲，這種蟲常出現於野生河，湖泊以及熱泉中。這種變形蟲會通過鼻子進入人體，一旦感染會導致阿米巴性腦膜腦炎，一種少見且致死性的衰弱型疾病。