8-Year-Old Louisiana Girl Dies After Rare Brain-Eating Amoeba Infection

An 8-year-old girl from Ruston, Louisiana, died on Saturday, a day after her birthday, after contracting Naegleria fowleri, a rare brain-eating amoeba. Health officials said the infection was probably acquired during a recent swim in Lake Claiborne.

The Louisiana Department of Health noted that Naegleria fowleri is found in warm freshwater bodies such as lakes, rivers and ponds, and can cause a fatal brain infection when water containing the organism enters the nose. Symptoms typically begin within five days and include severe headache, fever, nausea, vomiting, stiff neck, seizures and coma.

The department reiterated that the amoeba is not transmitted by swallowing water, person-to-person contact, or in properly chlorinated pools, and it does not occur in salt water. It advised swimmers to keep their heads out of warm freshwater, use nose clips or plug their noses when submerging, avoid hot springs and untreated thermal waters, and refrain from stirring up sediment in shallow, warm areas.

Since 1937, the United States has recorded about 180 cases of primary amebic meningoencephalitis, the disease caused by Naegleria fowleri, with Louisiana reporting three cases during that period.