Texas Governor To Update On Lake Jackson Brain-Eating Amoeba

AUSTIN, TX — Gov. Greg Abbott and other state officials have scheduled a Tuesday news conference to update the public on the deadly amoeba found in the City of Lake Jackson water supply this past weekend.

Brazosport Water Authority officials on Friday night confirmed presence of the brain-eating amoeba named Naeglera Fowleri in its water supply, prompting a "do not use" advisory across its entire service area. The amoeba can be deadly if it travels up a person's nose, prompting officials to advise residents not to use the water until a thorough cleaning of the water supply could be done.

Regulators initially issued a "do not use" order for the water treatment plant's entire service area that includes the cities of Freeport; Angleton; Brazoria; Richwood; Lake Jackson; Oyster Creek; Clute; and Rosenberg. The advisory also covered the Dow Chemical Co. and the Clemens and Wayne Scott prison units operated by the Texas Department of Criminal Justice.

Previous coverage:

• Brazosport Water Authority 'Do Not Use' Order Largely Lifted
• Brain-Eating Amoeba Prompts Disaster Declaration In Lake Jackson

In his update, the governor is scheduled to be joined by Texas House Speaker Dennis Bonnen; Sen. Joan Huffman; Texas Commission for Environmental Quality Executive Director Toby Baker; Texas Department of State Health Services Commissioner John Hellerstedt; and Texas Division of Emergency Management Chief Nim Kidd, according to an emailed advisory.

By Saturday, subsequently taken measures to treat the water supply largely lifted the advisory except for Lake Jackson, where water users were advised to boil their water before use. Despite lifting the "do not use" advisory, regulators noted a "boil water" notice is in effect along with additional precautionary measures for Lake Jackson Water users.

"TCEQ and city officials are actively working on a plan to flush and disinfect the water system. Until the flushing and disinfecting process is complete, the city remains under the boil notice," regulators wrote. "During this period of disinfection and flushing, boiling the tap water makes it safe for drinking and cooking."

But for all other uses — including bathing and showering — regulators strongly urged residents to take the following precautions recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention:

• Do not allow water to go up your nose or sniff water into your nose when bathing, showering, washing your face, or swimming.
• Do not jump into or put your head under bathing water.
• Do not allow children to play with hoses, sprinklers, or any toy or device that may accidentally squirt water up the nose.
• Do run bath and shower taps and hoses for 5 minutes before use to flush out the pipes.
• Do keep small, hard plastic/blow-up pools clean by emptying, scrubbing, and allowing them to dry after each use.
• Do use only boiled and cooled, distilled, or sterile water for making sinus rinse solutions for neti pots or performing ritual ablutions.
• Do keep swimming pools adequately disinfected before and during use. Adequate disinfection means:

• Pools: free chlorine at 1-3 parts per million (ppm) and pH 7.2-7.8; and
• Hot tubs/spas: free chlorine 2-4 parts per million (ppm) or free bromine 4-6 ppm and pH 7.2-7.8.

• Do place the hose directly into the skimmer box and ensure that the filter is running.
• Do not top off by placing the hose in the body of the pool.

"It is not yet known how long it will take to adequately flush the system and test the water to ensure it is completely safe to use," regulators wrote. "As the incident is resolved, further updates will be posted on the incident webpage, sent to local media outlets, and posted on TCEQ’s Facebook and Twitter.

The governor's update on the matter is scheduled to take place at 11:30 a.m. at the Dow Academic Center of Brazosport College, 500 College Dr., in Lake Jackson, Texas. Patch will update this story following the presentation.