The genus Naegleria includes several species of free-living uninucleate
amoebae that live in aquatic environment (ponds, lakes, sewage). It belongs
to a family of amoebae (Valkampfiidae) whose members can transform into flagellate
stage, which is a transient, non-feeding non-dividing form; the amoebal
stage can also transform into a resistant cyst stage. The species Naegleria
fowleri is occasionally pathogenic to a variety of mammals including humans.
Following direct intranasal contact, usually by swimming, N. fowleri
invade the olfactory bulb and progress along the olfactory nerves to the
brain, thereby causing an acute and fulminating disease called primary amoebic
meningoencephalitis. Home