'Brain-eating' amoebas found in Kerala's drinking water: What's the danger
Kerala is seeing a growing incidence of rare brain infections called amoebic meningoencephalitis, and Health Minister Veena George says polluted water and high temperatures could potentially be leading to this.
Dangerous amoebae—like Naegleria fowleri (sometimes called the "brain-eating" amoeba) and Acanthamoeba—have turned up in household and public water sources.
There have been five cases linked to Naegleria fowleri and over 20 from Acanthamoeba.
State government has launched an action plan to tackle issue
To tackle the issue, the Kerala government has rolled out an action plan: they're running awareness campaigns, working with local bodies to keep water clean, and doing mass chlorination of wells across the state.
There are also new rules for maintaining chlorine levels in public pools.
Plus, researchers from medical colleges and ICMR are teaming up to study these infections more closely.