Israel's Health Ministry Won't Close Sea of Galilee Beaches Despite Deadly Amoeba

Israel's Ministry of Health will not close any beaches on the Sea of Galilee at this time, despite the confirmed presence of the deadly Naegleria fowleri amoeba in the lake's waters and a recent additional case of illness. The ministry stated on Tuesday that while infection is extremely rare, it is life-threatening when it occurs. Transmission happens when amoeba-laden water enters the nose, potentially reaching the brain. Drinking the water does not cause infection, and the disease cannot spread from person to person.

Professor Sigal Sadetzki, head of Public Health Services at the Ministry of Health, explained that the amoeba's presence in the Sea of Galilee is unavoidable and cannot be detected through routine testing. "The amoeba is in the Sea of Galilee, and as of today, it will continue to be there," she said, adding that its concentration in the water is very low. "We have no reason to test for the amoeba in the Sea of Galilee because we know it's there. Laboratory tests are not standard practice because they would not be useful in this case," she noted.

In response to the risk, the ministry has issued recommendations for swimmers, including using nose plugs, avoiding diving and submerging the head, and refraining from activities that could force water into the nose, such as digging or stirring up the lakebed in shallow areas. Routine water quality tests continue, but they do not include checks for this amoeba due to the difficulty of detecting it in a large body of water. "Finding the amoeba in the water is like looking for a needle in a haystack," Prof. Sadetzki said, emphasizing that a single sample cannot guarantee the safety of an entire area as the amoeba's distribution is uneven.

Since 2022, four cases of illness linked to the amoeba have been diagnosed in Israel. Two previous cases in the summer of 2024 were connected to the Hof Ge'a water park on the Sea of Galilee. The most recent case involved a child who had visited Koresi Beach about a week before hospitalization. Despite the severity of the disease and recent occurrences, the ministry is not ordering beach closures, with decisions being made based on ongoing monitoring. Prof. Sadetzki stated that the amoeba's presence is tied to ecological conditions, making it impossible to set a date for when the risk will pass.

The Ministry of Health is not advising the public to completely avoid swimming in the Sea of Galilee but cannot guarantee any specific area is free of the amoeba. The current advice is to take precautionary measures, with the decision to enter the water ultimately resting with individuals.