What to know about the deadly brain-eating amoeba deaths in parts of India
India is facing a disturbing increase in cases of primary amoebic meningoencephalitis (PAM), a rare and often fatal brain infection caused by the “brain-eating amoeba” Naegleria fowleri.
In the southern state of Kerala, at least 19 people, including a three-month-old baby and a 52-year-old adult, have died this year. Globally, fewer than 500 cases have ever been reported, yet Kerala alone has recorded more than 120 cases to date, including 68 in 2025.
The infection occurs when contaminated freshwater enters the nose, allowing the amoeba to travel through the sinuses into the brain, where it destroys tissue.
On September 1, two patients, an infant and a woman, died while undergoing treatment at Kozhikode Government Medical College Hospital. Doctors confirmed both were infected by the same Naegleria fowleri strain. Health officials have since launched 'Jalamanu Jeevan' ('Water is Life'), a statewide chlorination drive targeting wells, swimming pools, and storage tanks.
Authorities are also using the imported drug miltefosine in treatment, but survival rates remain extremely low, Times of India reports.
Outbreak triggers political fallouts
The outbreak has triggered a fierce political debate. In the state assembly this week, the opposition Congress-led UDF accused the ruling LDF government of failing to prevent the spread of the disease, calling the crisis evidence of a “collapse of public health management.”
Opposition leader V.D. Satheesan noted that eight people had died in just 15 days, asking what preventive measures were in place and whether enough awareness campaigns had been carried out in communities most at risk.
Health Minister Veena George rejected the criticism, highlighting Kerala’s broader health gains, including a fall in infant mortality and the expansion of free advanced treatments. She accused the opposition of smearing the state’s health sector, but critics said her reliance on comparisons to past administrations avoided addressing present failures.
Meanwhile, aside from PAM, Kerala is also battling jaundice, dengue, leptospirosis, typhoid, and diarrhoeal diseases, stretching the state’s health system further.
This story is written and edited by the Global South World team, you can contact us here.
