Kerala last year had reported 36 infections of primary amoebic meningoencephalitis, caused by Naegleria fowleri amoeba - which is called "brain-eating amoeba" because it can infect the brain and destroy brain tissue.

- Altaf Ali, a doctor who is part of a government task force to prevent the spread of the infections, said numbers are still tiny but officials were "conducting tests on a large scale across the state to detect and treat cases," AFP news agency reported. "Its worrying that new cases this year have emerged from across the state, as opposed to specific pockets in the past," Ali said.

- Officials have reported 19 deaths and 72 infections of amoebic meningoencephalitis this year, including nine deaths and 24 cases in September alone, Kerala's health minister Veena George, however, said there has been no cluster outbreak of the condition this year like last year, when the amoeba killed nine people out of 36 reported cases.

- If the amoeba reaches the brain, it can cause an infection that kills over 95 per cent of those affected. Infections are "very rare but nearly always fatal", according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The amoeba thrives in warm lakes and rivers and is contracted by contaminated water entering the nose. It does not spread from person to person.

- The World Health Organisation (WHO) lists headache, fever and vomiting among symptoms, which rapidly progress to "seizures, altered mental status, hallucinations, and coma".

- Since 1962, nearly 500 cases have been reported worldwide, mostly in the United States, India, Pakistan, and Australia.