Israel's Health Ministry: Lake Kinneret Cannot Be Cleared of Brain-Eating Amoeba

Israel's Ministry of Health has stated that it is impossible to eliminate the Naegleria fowleri amoeba from the Sea of Galilee (Lake Kinneret), and it is likely to remain in the water indefinitely. Professor Sigal Sadecky, head of the Ministry's Public Health Services, explained that chlorinating the lake, as is done with swimming pools, is not feasible because it is an open body of water. Sadecky also noted that the amoeba's low concentration makes continuous monitoring difficult, so the ministry will not conduct specific tests for its presence in the lake. The risk of infection is estimated at about one case per several million swimmers, but this risk increases with rising water temperatures. When water temperatures drop below approximately 24°C, the risk significantly decreases, which was the primary reason for postponing the Kinneret swim event to November, when the water is expected to reach a safe level.

Current recommendations for swimmers remain unchanged: avoid getting water in the nose when jumping, diving, or submerging the head, and use nose clips. Sadecky's clarification comes amid the hospitalization of a nine-year-old boy in critical condition, sedated and on a ventilator in the intensive care unit at Rambam Hospital in Haifa. He was diagnosed with severe amoebic meningoencephalitis after swimming at Kursi beach on the Sea of Galilee. This marks at least the fourth such case in Israel in recent years, with one previous fatality.