Look out: Israelis warned of eye-attacking parasites at Kinneret

The Health Ministry says that in recent days, ophthalmologists have reported on three patients suffering from severe inflammation and scarring of the cornea after they bathed in the Kinneret.

Two of them were diagnosed in a lab with microsporidium and another case is under high suspicion of having contracted the parasites. 

Microsporidia are a group of unicellular intracellular parasites closely related to fungi, although the nature of the relation to the kingdom Fungi is not clear. When the spores enter the body’s cells, these develop and multiply. The infected cells eventually rupture, releasing the spores that can spread throughout the body, causing inflammation in various organs including the eyes or they can be excreted into the environment in the breath, stool, or urine.

In 2022, 38 cases of corneal lesions typical of microsporidium infections were reported. The ministry’s investigation revealed that at least some of the patients bathed on different beaches of the Kinneret.

Health Ministry recommends goggles when swimming

In light of the findings, the ministry recommends the wearing of swimming goggles when bathing in the lake to avoid direct water contact with the eyes.

Anyone who has bathed in the lake and suffers from eye inflammation, redness, pain or the feeling of a foreign body in the eyes should contact an eye doctor for diagnosis and treatment. The ministry stressed, however, that there is no risk in drinking Kinneret water, and that it and the Israel Water Authority are running lab tests to identify the cause of the phenomenon for updating the public of the findings.