DHSS confirms rare case of brain infection

The Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services (DHSS) is announcing the case of an adult Missouri resident with a laboratory-confirmed infection of Naegleria fowleri. Naegleria fowleri is a microscopic single-celled free-living ameba that can cause a rare deadly infection of the brain called primary amebic meningoencephalitis (PAM), also known as “brain-eating” infection. Typically, fewer than 10 people a year in the United States get PAM.