State health officials are saying a rare and deadly amoeba discovered last year in DeSoto Parish has been eradicated.

The Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals said it eliminated the organism — which was responsible for at least three deaths in Louisiana since 2011 — by increasing chlorine levels in the water supply. This comes after the DHH issued an emergency ruling in November requiring water systems to increase sampling sites by 25 percent.

Municipalities statewide will be required to meet the new standards by February.

The DHH will test the water supply in St. Bernard Parish later this month, where a boy tested positive for the amoeba — known as Naegleria fowleri — in August.

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