At least 19 people have died after being infected with ‘brain-eating amoeba’ in a single state of India.

Naegleria fowleri is a single-celled organism that can cause a brain infection called primary amoebic meningoencephalitis (PAM).

The infection is so rare that fewer than 488 cases have been recorded worldwide since 1962.

Yet cases of PAM are rising fast in Kerala, having reached 61 this year already, up nearly 70% from 2024.

Of them, 19 people have died. Three died within the last few weeks, including a three-month-old infant, Health Minister Veena George told the state assembly yesterday, according to India’s NDTV. She began feeling dizzy and faint on the eve of the state’s annual Onam harvest festival – just one day later, on September 5, she died.

Her cousin, Ajitha Kathiradath

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