The Louisiana Department of Health said yesterday that a Louisiana resident had a Naegleria fowleri infection, the brain-eating amoeba illness tied to swimming in Lake Claiborne. The resident most likely got the infection in the northern Louisiana lake, and the state said this was its fourth documented case since 1937.
Naegleria fowleri can cause primary amebic meningoencephalitis, or PAM, when tainted water reaches the brain through the nose. From 1937 to 2025, there were 180 known cases of PAM in the United States, according to the Louisiana Department of Health.
Lake Claiborne
Lake Claiborne is in Claiborne Parish in the northern part of Louisiana. The department said the infection was most likely linked to swimming there, which puts a specific public water body at the center of a case that remains rare but severe.
Naegleria fowleri is most commonly associated with swimming in warm freshwater lakes and ponds, and it can survive in temperatures of up to 115°F. The Louisiana Department of Health said recreational water users should always assume there is a risk when they enter warm fresh water.
Louisiana Department of Health
"Though the risk of infection is low, recreational water users should always assume there is a risk when they enter warm fresh water." The Louisiana Department of Health also said, "You can reduce your risk of infection by limiting the amount of water that goes up the nose."
The amoeba is not transmitted through swallowing water and is not contagious. For people who swim, the practical step is to keep warm freshwater out of the nose, since that is the route tied to infection.
The state’s fourth documented Louisiana Naegleria fowleri infection since 1937 leaves one urgent public-health question for the resident and anyone who was in the lake: when the exposure happened, and how quickly symptoms followed.
