Is it dangerous to swim in lakes and rivers because of the N. fowleri Brain-Eating Amoeba

I just read about it on Wikipedia and I'm quite frightened. Instant death!!!!

where i live,in Beaumont Tx...a couple of yrs ago,two guys were wade fishing in Sabine Pass..both men were killed when a flesh eating bacterium infected scrapes they had on their legs...they died within days of exposure...

this is a related article on an incident in Baytown...http://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/…

i never wade fish anymore,nor do i even like the beach...

It isn't "instant death" -- it's actually a slow, protracted death which is even worse.

In a dry summer like the one we had, the amoeba is more prevalent because pools of water tend to be still and not flowing, and the water temperature is warmer which supports the amoeba.

In wetter summers when the streams and creeks are flowing, swimming is much safer because the water is moving and water temperatures are lower - both detrimental to the amoeba.

Actually, most people come into contact with this amoeba without even knowing it, but they remain unharmed, but you cannot be sure if you are the unlucky few who are susceptible to this amoeba. BTW, this amoeba does not just dwell in lakes and rivers, they are also found in unchlorinated swimming pools and even in tap water that comes into people's homes. There are two recent cases in which people have used Neti pots to drain their sinuses and ended up dying because the tap water they used contain the amoeba, which entered their brains through their noses. Therefore it is always a good practice to boil your water before using it, even if it comes from the tap.

http://healthland.time.com/2011/12/16/lo…

You can pick it up in swimming pools - no freshwater is safe. It usually occurs in young males who "cannonball" into the water if they don't pinch their nostrils, the water is forced deep into the nostrils and that's when it can happen.