BATON ROUGE – Tuesday, the Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals (DHH) confirmed the presence of the Naegleria fowleri amoeba in the North Monroe Water System, which serves the town of Sterlington, at the 701 Guthrie Road sampling site. The privately owned water system, which serves approximately 8,400 residents in the North Monroe area along U.S. Route 165, was tested by DHH as part of the State’s new public drinking water surveillance program. DHH notified the water system and local officials Tuesday afternoon. The Department asked the water system to conduct a 60-day chlorine burn to ensure that any remaining amoeba in the system are eliminated. Water system operators will begin the burn as soon as possible.

The North Monroe Water System did not meet the required chloramine disinfectant levels set forth by the 2013 emergency rule at the location where the sample tested positive for the amoeba. The North Monroe Water System also previously failed to maintain a 0.5 mg/L residual of chlorine in the water before the system was tested, which is why state officials sampled the system for the amoeba in August. Three other sites on the system tested negative for Naegleria fowleri, although two of these did not meet the requirement for the minimum disinfectant residual level. Tap water from the North Monroe Water System is safe for residents to drink, but the Department urges residents to avoid getting water in their noses. Naegleria fowleri is an amoeba that occurs naturally in warm, still freshwater.

North Monroe Water System buys its drinking water from the Monroe Water System. The Department also tested water samples from the Monroe Water System for Naegleria fowleri; those results were negative for the amoeba.

As Naegleria fowleri infections are extremely rare, testing for this amoeba in public drinking water is still relatively new and evolving. DHH conducts sampling of public drinking water systems for Naegleria fowleri each summer when temperatures rise. So far, DHH has tested a total of 27 systems for the amoeba. Positive results for the amoeba have previously been discovered this summer in Terrebonne, St. Bernard and Ascension parishes. All three affected water systems are conducting chlorine burns as well.

Naegleria fowleri causes a disease called primary amebic meningoencephalitis (PAM), which is a brain infection that leads to the destruction of brain tissue. In its early stages, symptoms of PAM may be similar to bacterial meningitis.

The Department requested that the water system conduct a 60-day free chlorine burn. The chlorine burn will help reduce biofilm, or organic buildup, throughout the water system and will kill the amoeba. The water system has agreed to conduct this precautionary measure.