Don’t you love the wonderful feel of a warm swimming pool or a warm lake during the summer? Yet, enjoying it can be dangerous. The threat seems more appropriate for a sci-fi story, then a scientific document, but since the events don’t take place on some Martian plane, but actually have been recorded on our humble planet, it might seem curious enough:

Six young men died last year after swimming in lakes or pools infested with a brain-eating amoeba, the CDC reports.

The bad blobs — known as Naegleria fowleri or N. fowleri — thrive in warm, fresh water all over the world. But the key word here is warm. The amoeba loves heat. In the U.S., it inhabits the relatively hot waters of lakes, hot springs, and poorly maintained pools in Southern or Southwestern states.

Read the rest at WebMD: Brain-Eating Amoeba Strikes in Summer Six Deaths in 2007 From Amoeba in Warm Fresh Water

Though still a tragedy, the number of deaths is rather small. Yet, nobody wants to be (or their kids to be) part of such disturbing statistics. I guess it is another reason to take good care of your swimming pool and being more selective on where you are taking a dip. The article also recommends not to disturb the sediment, where the bacteria can be dormant, or to use nose plugs, since the amoeba enters the body through the nose. I can’t really imagine enjoying a swim with pieces sticking out of my nose, so I guess being more careful in selecting a good place for swimming, would be my personal option.