Many rural Australian homes may have a deadly threat lurking in their water and won’t know until it’s too late.
Back in April, Queensland Mum, Jodi Keough, put the hose on for her children to cool down with on a hot day, but it tragically lead to the death of her 1 year old baby boy, Cash.
Baby Cash Keough, died from contracting the deadly parasite, Image Source
Cash contracted a parasite that was thriving in the water at Jodi and Laine Keough’s cattle station near Townsville. Cash breathed in the water through his nose which lead to the infection and death of the 1-year-old.
The parasite is called a ‘brain-eating-parasite’ but it’s scientific name is Naegleria fowleri. The parasite likes to thrive in fresh, warm water, more than 25C.
So far it has caused 300 deaths worldwide and at least 25 deaths in Australia. Once contracted through the nose, the parasite causes severe inflammation and destructs the brain.
Mrs Keough explains that’s how her son Cash became infected. She believes he contracted it, using the garden hose on a hot day.
It’s rare to contract the parasite, but once you do it’s deadly, explains Dr Robert Norton on Australian Story. It’s definitely something Australians need to be aware of.
And that is what Jodi Keough is doing. She wants to warn other parents of the waterborne silent killer.
“Giving my kids a garden hose to play with was quite a regular activity for us, we don’t have a swimming pool or anything like that, so it was a fun way for the kids to cool down on the hot days.” explained Mrs Keough.
“We can only assume that one of those times that I enabled my children to play with the hose and gave a hose to my little boy, that’s likely to be the time when he was infected.”
Cash was the third child in central west Queensland to die from the amoeba. Mrs Keough and her husband were shocked to learn of this.
“We were very surprised that we hadn’t heard of the other children that had passed away and it has probably taken the death of our son for it to rise to a very important issue and something that Queensland Health is taking very seriously,” Mrs Keough said.
“I do feel that it is my responsibility, I do feel like it’s up to me to prevent our nightmare becoming someone else’s reality,” Mrs Keough said.
“I just want to empower people with the knowledge. I do believe it would just simply be a matter of time that someone else will lose someone they love and statistically it’s probably most likely going to be a child and a small child.”
Health authorities are training staff at rural hospitals about the amoeba and warning locals about the waterborne killer.
There are no cures for the parasite, but there are preventative practices that can be done to prevent infection. The QLD Government is urging rural properties to treat their house water, and put it through a filtration system to ensure it’s safe for children.
Townsville public health director Dr Steven Donohue told Australian Story,“For young toddlers around the home just make sure that the water that they’re playing and washing in is disinfected and filtered if possible and we’ll reduce the risk, but we won’t get rid of it.”
Mr and Mrs Keough have since installed a $3500 water purity system and have taught their older daughters not to get water up their nose.
