Kerala faces surge in fatal 'brain-eating amoeba' infections; 19 dead so far this year

Kerala's health authorities are confronting an alarming rise in cases of Primary Amoebic Meningoencephalitis (PAM), a rare but often deadly brain infection caused by Naegleria fowleri, commonly called the “brain-eating amoeba’. So far this year, the state has confirmed 69 cases and 19 deaths, many of them in recent weeks.

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“This is a serious public health challenge,’ Health Minister Veena George said, noting that while earlier outbreaks were concentrated in districts such as Kozhikode and Malappuram, infections are now being reported sporadically across Kerala. Patients have ranged in age from a three-month-old infant to a 91-year-old. “Unlike last year, we are not seeing clusters linked to a single water source. These are isolated cases, and this has complicated our epidemiological investigations,” she explained.