Health Ministry Warns Against Swimming at Kinneret Beach Due to Dangerous Amoeba

Israel's Ministry of Health has issued an urgent swimming advisory for HaShikmim Beach on the Sea of Galilee (Kinneret), following the detection of abnormal microbial results in water quality tests. The ministry reiterated that swimming is permitted only at designated beaches.

This warning comes after a nine-year-old boy from Pardes Hanna was hospitalized in critical condition in the intensive care unit at Rambam Hospital earlier this month. The boy had been swimming at Kinneret's Kursi beach about a week before developing symptoms. He was admitted to the hospital sedated and on a respirator due to acute encephalitis.

An epidemiological investigation confirmed that the boy contracted Naegleria fowleri, commonly known as the "brain-eating amoeba." This microscopic organism thrives in warm freshwater environments. While infections are extremely rare globally, with fewer than 500 cases documented worldwide, the disease has a very high mortality rate.

Health officials stressed that the amoeba is not transmitted from person to person and that drinking contaminated water is not dangerous. Infection occurs exclusively when contaminated water enters the nasal cavity, allowing the amoeba to travel directly to the central nervous system and brain, causing severe damage.