DESCRIPTION:
Josiah McIntyre, 6, died within five days of feeling sick after from the rare but
almost always fatal amoeba found in a hose pipe at his home and infects the
body through the nose.
TRANCRIPT:
We're gonna go to texas now where the governor has issued a disaster declaration
for one county. After a six-year-old boy died from a deadly brain-eating amoeba
found in the water. Clayton Sandel is in lake Jackson with the story. Good morning,
Clayton! Hey! Good morning, George. This is that water splash park that tested
positive for that brain eating amoeba.
It is also the place that six-year-old boy came to play just a few days before
he died. This morning authorities in Taxes are tracking a deadly brain eating
organism that may have arrived in a tainted city water supply
killing a six-year-old boy. I just want my son back. Josiah Mcintyre's mother says
her son who loved the astros started complaining on September 3 that he wasn't
feeling well. Doctors soon discovered Josiah had a brain eating amoeba, but in just
five short days he was dead. My baby had a headache, and a fever, and vomiting,
and you know as a parent for for it to go from something like a headache to a brain
eating amoeba, it's, it's a hard pill to swallow. Just days before he got sick, Josiah
played in this splash pad in lake Jackson.
After he died, the city shut it down using a private company to test the water.
That test came back negative, but a second more sensitive test last week
recommended by the CDC was positive. The amoeba also found in a hose at
the boy's home. We have to keep in mind there's really no effective treatments
for this. Prevention is very important. Experts say the amoeba
which is rare, but almost always fatal infects the body through the nose. It's not
about drinking water. It's about avoiding activities where the water goes into the
nose so not diving head first into a lake, or doing a slip and slide where the water
is going back into the nasal passage.
Authorities are now working to flush and disinfect the water supply using
chlorine ordering all residents of lake Jackson to boil the water before using.
We're working as hard as possible to get the water system back online and
make sure that it's safe. State and federal officials also
working to find out how the amoeba which thrives in warmer temperatures
contaminated the water. I'm you know heartbroken.
The national guard is now here handing out bottles of water and officials are
warning that flushing and cleaning the entire water system could take
another 60 days, Robin. I have to keep that in mind, Clayton.
Thank you very much and certainly thinking of that
little boy's family.Well, hey there, GMA fans Robin Roberts here.
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QUESTIONS:
1. Explain what amoeba is.
2. What are brain-eating amoebas? Why are they deadly?
3. What are the odds of contracting a brain eating amoeba from
contaminated surfaces?