Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-ndw9j Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-14T04:24:36.334Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

The effect of thermal pollution on the distribution of Naegleria fowleri

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 May 2009

J. De Jonckheere
Affiliation:
Laboratory of Hygiene, School of Public Health, Vital Decosterstraat 102, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Belgium
P. Van Dijck
Affiliation:
Laboratory of Hygiene, School of Public Health, Vital Decosterstraat 102, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Belgium
H. van de Voorde
Affiliation:
Laboratory of Hygiene, School of Public Health, Vital Decosterstraat 102, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Belgium
Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Summary

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.

The distribution in the environment of Naegleria fowleri, the causal agent of primary amoebic meningoencephalitis has been investigated in this study. N. fowleri was isolated only from a thermally polluted canal. These amoeboflagellates were not isolated from another thermally polluted canal in the neighbourhood indicating that, apart from high temperature, other factors are involved in the selective proliferation of N. fowleri. This species was absent in all other samples originating from two canals, a stream, two lakes, several reservoirs and slow sandfilters of a water supply service and also a water distribution network. Many other amoebae able to grow at 42° C. were found in different places. Most of the N. fowleri strains isolated were not virulent for mice, although they showed all the characteristics of the pathogenic strains.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1975

References

REFERENCES

Anderson, K. & Jamieson, A. (1972). Primary amoebic meningoencephalitis. Lancet i, 902–3.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Carter, R. F. (1972). Primary amoebic meningo-encephalitis. An appraisal of present knowledge. Transactions of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene 66, 193213.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Červa, L. & Novák, K. (1968). Amoebic meningoencephalitis: sixteen fatalities. Science, New York 160, 192.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
De Jonckheere, J., Van Dijck, P. & van de Voorde, H. (1974). Evaluation of the indirect fluorescent-antibody technique for identification of Naegleria species. Applied Microbiology 28, 159–64.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Duma, R. J., Rosenblum, W. I., McGehee, R. F., Jones, M. M. & Nelson, E. C. (1971). Primary amoebic meningoencephalitis caused by Naegleria. Two new cases, response to Amphotericin B. and a review. Annals of Internal Medicine 74, 923–31.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Gordeeva, L. M. (1973). Isolation and cultivation of limax amoebae capable to grow at 37° C. Progress in Protozoology p. 159.Google Scholar
Griffin, J. L. (1972). Temperature tolerance of pathogenic and nonpathogenic free-living amoebas. Science, New York 178, 869–70.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Jadin, J. B., Hermanne, J., Robyn, G., Willaert, E., Van Maercke, Y. & Stevens, W. (1971). Trois cas de meningo-encephalite amibienne primitive observés à Anvers (Belgique). Annales de la Societé Belge de Médicine Tropicale 51, 255–66.Google Scholar
Jadin, J. M., Eschbach, H. L., Verheyen, F. & Willaert, E. (1974). Etudes comparatives des kystes de Naegleria et d'acanthamoeba. Annales de la Societé Belge de Médicine Tropicale 54, 259–64.Google Scholar
Jamieson, A. (1973). The epidemiology of primary amoebic meningo-encephalitis in South Australia. Progress in Protozoology p. 198.Google Scholar
Kasprzak, W. & Mazur, T. (1974). Small free-living amoebae isolated from ‘warm’ lakes: investigations on epidemiology and virulence of the strains. Proceedings of the Third International Congress of Parasitology 1, 188–9.Google Scholar
Mandal, B. N., Gudex, J. D., Fitchet, M. R., Pullon, D. H. H., Malloch, J. A., David, C. M. & Apthrop, J. (1970). Acute meningoencephalitis due to amoebae of the order Myxomycetale (slime mold). New Zealand Medical Journal 71, 1623.Google Scholar
Page, F. C. (1967). Taxonomic criteria for limax amoebae, with descriptions of 3 new species of Hartmannella and 3 of Vahlkampfia. The Journal of Protozoology 14, 499521.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Page, F. C. (1974). Rosculus ithacus Hawes, 1963 (Amoebida, Flabelluidae) and the amphizoic tendency in amoebae. Acta Protozoologica XIII (12), 143–54.Google Scholar
Singh, B. N. & Das, S. R. (1972). Occurrence of pathogenic Naegleria aerobia, Hartmannella culbertsoni and H. rhysodes in sewage sludge samples of Lucknow. Current Science 41, 277–81.Google Scholar
Van Den Driessche, E., Vandepitte, J., Van Dijck, P. J., De Jonckheere, J. & van de Voorde, H. (1973). Primary amoebic meningoencephalitis after swimming in stream water. Lancet ii, 971.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Visvesvara, G. S. & Callaway, C. S. (1974). Light and electron microscopic observations on the pathogenesis of Naegleria fowleri in mouse brain and tissue culture. The Journal of Protozoology 21, 239–50.CrossRefGoogle Scholar