BRYAN, TX — State officials met Tuesday afternoon to discuss the early stages of an investigation into the brain-eating amoeba that was detected in the City of Lake Jackson water supply that killed a 6-year-old boy.
Josiah McIntyre died on September 8 after days of complaining of flu-like symptoms.
“Fevers, chills, nausea, and vomiting. Sometimes you’ll get neck stiffness, and then this will progress to headaches. You’ll get altered mental status like confusion, seizures, and then many people develop a coma,” explained Dr. Mary Theoktisto, an infectious disease expert with Baylor Scott and White.
Those symptoms associated with that of naegleria fowleri, a microorganism that attacks the brain.
“The thought is they go up through our nose, and since our nasal cavities sit right on the skull base right there, they just penetrate through that space essentially,” said Dr. Theoktisto.
Josiah’s death sparked an investigation of the Brazosport Water Authority System.
“The immediate suspected cause of this was a splash pad that has now been shut down,” said Governor Greg Abbott.
Lake Jackson officials, the Center for Disease Control, the Brazoria County Health Department, and the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality conducted an elaborate test of 11 locations on September 22.
“I believe the family had several locations at their house tested. We had the splash pad tested, and we also tested a part of the distribution system,” said Lake Jackson City Manager Modesto Mundo.
Three days later, Mundo received the results of three positive locations.
“On the 25th we were aware. We had the results with DSHS and the CDC at the same time,” he said.
Lake Jackson is under a boil water notice as the TCEQ is testing the system. Executive Director Toby Baker says it could take months to clear Lake Jackson’s drinking water.
“So, there's going to be two prongs that are going to have to happen. One is focused on the disinfected side, so that is two to three weeks to get through the boil-water notice. That takes care of the bacteria's concerns that we have,” said Baker. “At that point, the City is going to be asked to up their chlorine to 1 milligram per liter, so very high chlorine levels in the system. Once they get to that level, they are going to have to keep the system to that level for 60 days.”
While questions remain as to how Josiah got infected through the city’s water supply, doctors say the only way to get infected is by water going up your nasal cavity.
“You cannot get that infection from drinking the water or merely showering in it, that sort of thing. You have to get it deep up your sinuses,” said Dr. John Hellerstedt, DSHS Commissioner.
Lake Jackson has an estimated 27,000 residents that are under the current boil water notice.
