Woman dies of brain-eating infection after washing her nose with tap water

A 71 year old woman from has sadly died after suffering from a brain-eating infection, with the culprit of her untimely death believed to be tap water.

The unnamed woman is believed to have been killed by an amoeba, a single-celled organism, when she sadly passed away last year, with the county health department revealing that she likely contracted the infection after she rinsed her sinuses with tap water from an RV's water system at a campground.

Despite the worrying turn of events, The Texas Department of State Health Services assured the public that tap water in the area is still safe to drink and that infections with amoebas are extremely rare and can only infect humans through the nose.

However, the case has led experts to disagree, as the tragedy only "reinforces the potential for serious health risks associated with improper use of nasal irrigation devices, as well as the importance of maintaining RV water quality and ensuring that municipal water systems adhere to regulatory standards," reports the

In the United States, only a handful of deaths each year are attributed to brain-eating amoeba, and typically occur amount people that have been swimming in warm water lakes and rivers.

The terrifying organism, which is known as Naegleria fowleri is often fatal, with around 97% of people it infects succumbing to it. Only a very small handful of Americans have ever lived to tell the tale after contracting the amoeba.

Texas in particular has proven to be a hotspot for deaths, as the state sits among those that have suffered the largest number of amoeba infection cases in US history, with 39 of the documented 160 recorded cases occurring in the state.

The tiny organism almost always proves fatal as it cases a disease called primary amoebic meningoencephalitis, or amebic meningitis. This means that sufferers will experience in an initial array of symptoms that include a headache, vomiting and nausea, but as the infection progresses it can lead to cognitive decline, stiff neck and sensitivity to light.

In later stages, the illness then triggers severe swelling and rotting of the brain and spinal cord, which is what usually claims the life of sufferers.

Even more worryingly, there are currently no known treatments for the condition.

In the Texas case, the woman tragically developed severe neurological symptoms within just four days of infection, as she experienced fever, headache and an altered mental status after using a nasal irrigation device filled with the compromised tap water.

Despite the best efforts of medics to stabilise her condition, she went on to develop seizures before passing away just eight days after symptoms first appeared.

Following the death, the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention confirmed the presence of N.fowleri in the patient's brain and spinal fluid.

Only three recorded cases are typically recorded in the US each year, and almost always occur over the warmer months when many families race to cool off at lakes and ponds.

While in the water, the amoeba, which is 1200 times smaller than a US dime coin, enters the body via the olfactory nerve by swimming up a person's nose. This gives it a direct route into the brain, where infection can then take root.

How long it takes for the illness to progress varies from person to person, but it can take anywhere from one to nine days before a person starts showing symptoms, with death usually occurring within five days.

Although the amoeba is incredibly rare, members of the public are still advised to avoid swimming in untreated water this summer, especially in holiday hotspots like Florida where temperatures can rapidly climb.

Luckily, because the amoeba only resides in fresh water, this means ocean swimming is generally considered okay.