Kochi: Kerala health authorities are on high alert after at least 19 people died this year from Primary Amoebic Meningoencephalitis (PAM), a rare and often fatal infection caused by the so-called ‘brain-eating’ amoeba.Kerala Health Minister Veena George said 69 cases have been recorded so far in 2025, but stressed that unlike last year, there is no evidence of clusters linked to a single water source.

She said, “Not clusters, single cases. We did have clusters, but not in 2025... but back in 2024, there was a cluster there because the same water source was used, here, there is no cluster, but we have cases, we have a total number of 69 cases.”

PAM is caused by Naegleria fowleri, a free-living amoeba that thrives in warm freshwater and can enter the body through the nose. Once it reaches the brain, it causes severe inflammation, which is usually fatal. Patients reported in Kerala this year range from infants as young as three months to elderly people aged 91. So far, 33 of the cases have been male and 19 are female, officials confirmed.

Authorities say they stepped up monitoring after the 2023 Nipah outbreak. “We issued strict instructions to investigate every meningoencephalitis case.