Naegleria fowleri is actually an amoeba, which is a type of protist. If you're afraid of contracting the amoeba, the CDC recommends that you wear a nose plug while swimming; this is because the only way you can contract N. fowleri and the disease it causes - Primary Amebic Meningioenchapilitis (PAM) - is by getting water (and the amoeba) into your sinus cavities. There have only been about 128 reported cases of PAM over the past forty years in the US, so there's virtually little risk of you contracting it. However, if you have a sudden high fever, restlessness, neck stiffness, or acute headache after exposure to fresh water, go to the hospital immediately - the only way PAM has been treated (despite its 99 percent fatality rate) is through early detection. Mitefosine is often used, despite the fact that the FDA hasn't authorized this breast-cancer-fighting drug for this specific purpose. Body cooling as well as a combination of antifungals and antibiotics are also said to work, however, but the Mitfosine seems to work best. PAM is also most prevalent in children, but that doesn't mean that adults can't get it either. However, the two deaths in River Country from PAM were both children.
Naegleria fowleri as actually an amoeba (protist). However, the only way to get the amoeba and the disease it causes - Primary Amebic Meningioenchapalitis (PAM)- is to get water (which holds the amoeba) in your nasal cavity. From there, the amoeba can pierce the sinus membrane and reproduce in the olfactory bulb, then spread throughout your brain causing death on an average of 7 days. The CDC recommends that you wear a nose plug to virtually eliminate your chances of contracting PAM.