BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) _ State health officials say a potentially deadly brain-eating amoeba has been discovered in the St. Bernard Parish Water System at the site of a leaking sampling station that serves more than 44,000 people.

The Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals notified the water system and parish officials Wednesday evening.

DHH said in a news release it had asked the water system to conduct a 60-day chlorine burn to ensure that any remaining amoeba in the system are eliminated. Parish officials said the system would conduct the burn out of an abundance of caution.

Tap water in St. Bernard Parish is safe for residents to drink, but the DHH urges residents to avoid getting water in their noses. Naegleria fowleri (nuh-GLEER’-ee-uh FOW’-lur-ee) is an amoeba that occurs naturally in freshwater.