Update from state health commissioner on Naegleria fowleri
25 August 2011
Virginia State Health Commissioner
Karen Remley, M.D., M.B.A., FAAP released a
clinicians’ letter regarding the death of a Virginia child due to infection with Naegleria fowleri, an amoeba commonly found in warm freshwater and soil. This amoeba causes primary amebic meningeoncephalitis (PAM), which progresses rapidly and can be fatal. For additional information on this issue, contact Suzi Silverstein, M.A., R.D., director of the office of risk communication and education for the Virginia Department of Health, at 804 | 864-7538.