Health officials said on Tuesday that an amoeba was found in the well water at the residence of a nine-year-old girl who died last week due to amoebic encephalitis, a rare brain infection, in this north Kerala district.
A senior health official of the district said that following the detection of the amoeba, a fever survey was carried out among all those who used the water from the well.
Following the survey, the deceased girl's brother is presently under observation as he had a fever.
However, he has not shown any other symptoms associated with the brain infection, caused by a free-living amoeba found in contaminated waters, the official said.
The girl, a resident of Thamarassery here, was admitted to a hospital due to fever on August 13, but as her condition worsened quickly, she was shifted to the Kozhikode medical college on August 14 where she died the same day.
A test carried out at the microbiology lab of the medical college revealed on August 15 night that the cause of her death was amoebic encephalitis.
{{/usCountry}}A test carried out at the microbiology lab of the medical college revealed on August 15 night that the cause of her death was amoebic encephalitis.
{{/usCountry}}It was probably the fourth case of the rare brain infection reported from the district this year, according to health officials.
Caused by free-living amoeba, amoebic encephalitis is a deadly infection that is typically contracted from freshwater sources such as lakes, rivers, and streams.