Published Tuesday, Oct. 24, 2023 | 6:55 p.m.
Updated Wednesday, Oct. 25, 2023 | 1:46 p.m.
Tests for a suspected case of what is commonly known as a brain-eating amoeba in Arizona have come back negative, Mohave County officials said.
Specimens were sent Tuesday to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for testing, officials said. The county announced the negative results on Wednesday.
The amoeba, Naegleria fowleri, is a free-living, microscopic species commonly found in soil and in warm fresh water, such as lakes, rivers and hot springsm according to the CDC.
Infections from the amoeba are rare, with between zero and five cases diagnosed annually from 2013 to 2022. A total of 29 infections were reported in the U.S. during that period. Infections from the amoeba are almost always fatal.
There was a case of the amoeba in 2007 at Mohave County’s Lake Havasu. Last year, a Nevada child died after contracting the amoeba after swimming at Lake Mead on the Arizona side.
