Naegleria fowleri ( /nəˈɡlɪəriə/) is a free-living excavate form of protist typically found in warm bodies of fresh water, such as ponds, lakes, rivers, and hot springs. It is also found in soil, near warm-water discharges of industrial plants, and unchlorinated or poorly chlorinated swimming pools in an amoeboid or temporary flagellate stage. There is no evidence of this organism living in ocean (salt) water. Rarely, it can appear in inadequately treated samples of home-based tap water that is not treated enough to be entirely potable, though this is not the usual method of contracting the illness unless the water is very deeply inhaled, usually deliberately. It is an amoeba belonging to the groups Percolozoa or Heterolobosea.
N. fowleri can invade and attack the human nervous system. Although this occurs rarely, such an infection nearly always results in the death of the victim. The case fatality rate is estimated at 98%.
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