Child Dies From Rare Amoeba Infection After Swimming in Sea of Galilee

The Ministry of Health has announced the death of a child hospitalized at Rambam Medical Center, who suffered from severe brain inflammation. Epidemiological investigations and laboratory tests confirmed the child contracted the rare amoeba Naegleria fowleri while swimming at Koresi Beach in the Sea of Galilee about a week before hospitalization.

While the Ministry of Health is not prohibiting entry into the Sea of Galilee's waters, it warns that the environmental amoeba is likely present at all the lake's beaches. Swimmers are advised to take precautions to prevent water from entering the nasal cavity under pressure, which is how the amoeba reaches brain tissue. Recommended measures include using nose plugs and avoiding diving, jumping into the water, submerging the head, and stirring up the lakebed in shallow areas.

The Ministry emphasizes that swallowing Sea of Galilee water poses no danger and the disease is not contagious between people. The amoeba, found in warm freshwater bodies, can cause rapid and fatal brain inflammation. Individuals who have swum in the Sea of Galilee and feel well do not require medical examination, but should seek immediate treatment if symptoms such as fever, severe headache, nausea, vomiting, stiff neck, confusion, drowsiness, or seizures develop. In such cases, it is crucial to inform medical staff about exposure to the water body to enable rapid diagnosis and treatment.

Due to the amoeba thriving in high water temperatures, water sports and swimming events have been postponed until the water cools below 24 degrees Celsius, a threshold at which the amoeba's proliferation significantly decreases. Consequently, the Sea of Galilee Crossing event has been rescheduled to November 14, 2026.

The disease is extremely rare, with fewer than 500 cases documented worldwide, including 167 in the United States. In Israel, only four cases have been diagnosed since 2022, three of which were linked to the Sea of Galilee region. Two of these occurred in the summer of 2024 following exposure at a water park near the lake, and were addressed specifically concerning that site, unlike the current case which occurred in the Sea of Galilee itself.