New 2026 Study: Brain-Eating Amoeba in Yellowstone, Grand Teton & Lake Mead

Added: 2026-05-09

[00:00:00]Have you heard the news? There is a braineing amieba that has found its way through three major national park areas this year in 2026. It has a fatality rate of 97%, meaning 97% of people who get this die.

[00:00:20]Stick around and I'm going to show you everything you need to know to keep yourself safe while traveling the national parks this summer. Roll intro.

[00:00:29]Bethany.

[00:00:31]Together we stand tall with a roving bed. Living life our way. Adventures await us at the break of day. With Maverick leading we roam far and wide.

[00:00:43]In this world of wonder we take it in stride. Every dawn a new chance.

[00:00:50]Every night a new star.

[00:00:53]Together we're stronger.

[00:00:56]No matter where we are.

[00:00:59]>> Welcome everybody. I'm Bethany from the Robing Vets. I am only onethird of our channel. Also, my husband Rob and our fur baby maverick, the real star of the show. If you plan to go to Yellowstone National Park, Grand Tetons National Park, or Lake me this summer, you're going to want to stick around to see what areas to avoid and what exactly is this brain eating amieba that could basically kill you. Unfortunately, a brand new 2026 study has found this amoeba in national park waters around these three major areas. On this episode, we're going to break down how dangerous it is, how risky it really is, and what are your true odds of actually catching this braineing amieba. This video could save your life and your vacation. For starters, what is it exactly? Now, stick with me because this one's a little hard to try to pronounce.

[00:01:58]Narriia.

[00:02:00]I'm pretty sure I said that right. It loves temperatures around 77 to 86° F, which translates to about 25 to 30° C.

[00:02:11]For the bizarre part, you can swallow that water all you want and it's not going to hurt you. Bizarrely enough, you would think, "Oh, I better not swallow this water." Nope. swallow or not, doesn't matter because what the danger is is that thing getting up your nose and into your brain. So, if you're going to be out in any of these areas, make sure you're taking proper precautions.

[00:02:35]What does it do to you? It gets up there in your brain. It causes catastrophic damage.

[00:02:41]So on the good side where it has an extremely high fatality rate that 97% which means if a hundred people get it 97 of them die it's actually pretty rare. Only 10 people per year usually in America actually end up getting this braineing amieba. But that doesn't mean the risk isn't there and that you shouldn't take proper precautions because it sounds like a pretty nasty way to die if you ask me. So, what do you need to know? Even though in the past it's usually been found in more southern states, it's recently been moving its way a little more north.

[00:03:20]Starting with the big one, Yellowstone National Park. A big one on most people's bucket list. So, the question you really have is where in Yellowstone National Park am I going to find this?

[00:03:32]And how likely is it that I'm going to be in that area? Fireh Hall River, Boiling River, and some areas around Lewis Lake. So, if you just want to air on the side of caution, maybe just skip those areas.

[00:03:47]You can still go see places like Grand Prismatic, Fairy Falls, Old Faithful, or check out our favorite, our favorite area of the entire Yellowstone summer that we spent was West Geyser area in the Black Sand Basin area. absolutely phenomenal views that we'd never really heard many people talk about. We had never really seen many YouTube videos on it. And I still wonder to this day why why do people not go to those areas?

[00:04:16]There's so much a hidden gem that just skip the brain eating amoeba areas and go there. Check out those videos and see exactly what I'm talking about because you are absolutely missing out on your trip to Yellowstone if you don't see those areas. Next up, Grand Teton National Park. That one's been about 20 years since I've been there, so you're not going to find that one on our YouTube channel. However, let's get into the details. Many people try to soak up the areas, go on hikes, go to Jenny Lake, kayak out there. But one thing you really need to know is if you're going to get in the water, use proper precaution. Don't soak your head. like you can get plenty wet and cool off for the summer without having to get your head in. Now, if you just for some reason have to get your head in the water, I mean, hey, that's up to you. You You play your risky games all you want, you can always just get your hair wet. You can always just, you know, do this. Cover your nose because that's where it's getting up is in your nose.

[00:05:24]Don't let it get in your nose. Don't do that. So, you can still have fun and enjoy Grand Tetons. National Park area and get in some of these areas without coming home with the brain eating amoeba. Last but not least, this area that the brain eating amoeba has been found in is Lake Me National Recreational Area right around Las Vegas. I'm not lying when I say this amoeba has been found there because back in 2022, a child actually died from this exact amoeba type situation in Lake me.

[00:05:56]So, if you choose to be out in the waters in this area, just make sure you're taking proper precautions. Like I said, maybe just don't get your head wet. Get into your stomach, get into your neck, float around. Just what are I mean, just think about it. Be safe. Why risk it if you don't have to?

[00:06:17]Pretty much. Don't be stirring up the little sediments at the bottom of the water, which I mean, I could see how a kid would do that. I know I played with mud in the bottom of creeks and rivers and stuff when I was a kid. So I can see how a kid would get in there and kind of do the same thing, but not worth it.

[00:06:33]Make sure if you and your kids are going to these areas, even tell them, "Hey, you could die if you do it, so don't do it." So stay out of sediment. Don't get your head wet. Pretty safe, pretty easy.

[00:06:46]Like I said, only 10 people in America die from this a year, but it you don't want that kind of death either. So use proper precautions. So to recap, this braeing amoeba is extremely deadly. Again, going to restate this. If a hundred people get it, 97 of them will die. But only about 10 people in America die from it a year. So what are the odds? Risk versus reward. Just use proper precaution, right? It's always a good idea to go by the ranger station, the visitor center, those areas. Get the latest information from the park rangers or whoever's working there that day.

[00:07:23]Have the proper information. And that is key to going really anywhere out in nature because things change. You never know from day to day what's the risk, what should you be watching out for, you know, all of that kind of thing. So, let's get out there, have fun in the sun, enjoy our national parks, practice, use no trace, and yes, that includes cigarette butts. Cigarette butts are trash and not to be thrown out. It's crazy how many cigarette butts we see at national parks. Um, use your sunscreen, safe sunscreen, non-toxic sunscreen. On that note, we use an app called Yucka that you can scan it and it tells you from good to bad how safe the sunscreen is. And you'd be shocked how many of them have known carcinogens, which is things that cause cancer in them. But there are sunscreens that you can find that also are safe and don't have cancer-causing stuff in them. Check out that app. Be safe out there. We truly love all of you who comment on our videos every week. Leave us a comment and let us know, have you been to any of these parks that have these brain eating amiebas in them? I'm probably saying amieba, but hey, it sounds kind of cool, I guess, when you say it that way.

[00:08:38]Anyway, leave it in the comments because we do check and read every single comment that you guys leave. And we actually do respond to every comment because if you give us your time and support us with your watch time, we're going to support you back and answer your comment or respond to your comment.

[00:08:58]It's the least we can do when you give us this much of your time, right? Also, if you liked this video, make sure you hit that like button so it pushes it out to even more people who might be going to these areas this summer or maybe even in the future. And while we're at it, on our next episode, we are leaving Cody, Wyoming, Yellowstone that we just finished our minieries on. And we are headed towards the Sugarbeat Harvest.

[00:09:23]Actually, we will be boondocking on a lake in Wyoming. Find us on Facebook if you haven't already because we do typically post a little bit more recent and close to where we are in real life on Facebook because sometime we do like to meet you guys and we have met up with so many people who watch us all over the United States. So leave us a comment, let us know. Are we going to see you at the London Rally? Anyway guys, safe travels out there and we will see y'all again next week. Remember, we post videos every Tuesday and when time allows, like this week, we will post videos on the weekends sometime. So, anyway guys, that's going to do it for this episode and we will see you again next week.

[00:10:07]>> Rob together at the break of day. With Maverick leading we roam far and wide in this world of wonder. We take it in stride.

[00:10:26]Every dawn a new chance.

[00:10:29]Every night a new together we're stronger.

[00:10:35]No matter where >> in ' 86