Protista --> Percolozoa --> Heterolobosea
Protista --> Percolozoa --> Heterolobosea
N. fowleri can be identified by testing tissues or spinal fluids, but is most often identified by biopsy. It can be in a flagellate, ameba, or cyst form.
N. fowleri resides in physical reservoirs in soil and bodies of water. It can complete its life cycle in these reservoirs or in animal or human hosts. In satisfactory conditions--warm, wet, nutrient-rich--the parasite is in its trophozoite stage during which it reproduces through promitosis to form two trophozoites. Trophozoites become flagellated and mobile, or can encyst, if conditions are not favorable. When trophozoites or cysts come into contact with human nasal passages, they migrate to the brain, where they reproduce and consume brain matter.
N. fowleri can infect humans and animals such as cows and mice. It is not an obligate parasite, and infection almost always results in host death. Infections occur most frequently in summer months when people swim in warm bodies of water.
N. fowleri is distributed worldwide, with human infections occurring most often in tropical areas in summertime. It can survive cold but not freezing temperatures, and can tolerate heat up to 46 degrees Celsius.
https://web.stanford.edu/group/parasites/ParaSites2010/Katherine_Fero/FeroNaegleriafowleri.htm