South Korean health officials on Monday reported the first case of the "brain-eating amoeba," Naegleria fowleri. The Naegleria fowleri infection, which affects human brains, was found in a Korean national who passed away after returning from Thailand, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA). After spending four months in Southeast Asia, the 50-year-old man returned to Korea on December 10 and was later hospitalized, where he died on last Tuesday.

This was the first case of this infection being reported in Korea. The infection, was originally found in the United States in 1937. The causative agent of this infection, an amoeba called Naegleria fowleri can be found in warm freshwater lakes, rivers, canals, and ponds all throughout the world. It enters the nose, and travels the brain where it consumes brain tissue.

The KDCA urged locals to avoid swimming in the areas where the disease has spread despite claiming that the likelihood of Naegleria fowleri transmission from person to person is minimal. As of 2018, 381 Naegleria fowleri cases had been documented worldwide, including those in the US, India, and Thailand.

(Source: https://health.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/diagnostics/first-infection-of-brain-eating-amoeba-reported-in-s-korea/96522310)