8-year-old Louisiana girl dies from rare brain-eating amoeba found in warm freshwater
An 8-year-old girl in Louisiana has died from a rare brain-eating amoeba infection contracted in warm freshwater. Health officials note that while such cases are extremely rare, they are almost always fatal.
Why it matters
The report highlights a rare but severe public health risk associated with swimming in warm freshwater bodies during summer months.
An 8-year-old girl in Louisiana has died after being infected by an extremely rare brain-eating amoeba that is found in warm freshwater, her family says.
Lillian Smart died over the weekend after being diagnosed with an infection from Naegleria fowleri, according to Kyle Roberts, a spokesperson for her family. Health authorities describe it as a “brain-eating amoeba" that thrives in freshwater bodies around the U.S. and can shoot up the nose and cause an infection that almost always proves fatal. On average there are fewer than 10 cases annually in the U.S.
“Last night Lillian ran from our arms to the arms of Jesus,” her parents, Daniel and Rebecca Smart, wrote Sunday in a public post on Facebook. “The injuries to her brain were too severe for her little body to recover from. Everyone did everything they could to keep her here.”
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