Experts: Brain-eating amoebas not likely in Connecticut

Concerns about brain-eating amoebas in the news have people in Connecticut wondering if they can be found here.
"At this point it's really unlikely that we're going to see something like this," said Nikolas Stasulli, of the University of New Haven.
Stasulli says the likelihood of seeing brain-eating amoebas in the Northeast is very rare.
"It really doesn't go into that kind of infectious phase until the water temperature reaches about 77 degrees. So, it's a relatively warm water temperature that we don't necessarily hit a lot especially in larger bodies of water," said Stasulli.
Brain-eating amoebas are found in fresh water. They cause a brain infection when they get up in your nose when you're out swimming.
Cases have primarily been seen in much warmer southern states, but the heat we've endured has triggered something else.
"Last Thursday we had the pond tested and it was high for E. coli, so we closed it," said Tom Breslin, of Wilton.
You can't swim at Merwin Meadows Park because of the influx of water fowl.
The pond was just tested again Wednesday morning.
"What's been happening a lot with the summer temperatures being so high and us getting so little rain is that once you get a lot of that evaporation the bodies of water start to concentrate," said Stasulli.
Stasulli says you can kill all kinds of bacteria including brain-eating amoebas with chlorine.
The CDC says only about 3 people in the United States get infected with brain-eating amoebas every year, but it is deadly.
Experts say there is no treatment for brain-eating amoeba, and it is most often found in children.