Brain-Eating Amoeba Infection Kills California Boy

A young boy in California has died after becoming infected with a brain-eating amoeba while swimming last month. David Pruitt, 7, contracted primary amoebic meningoencephalitis—PAM—from a lake in Tehama County in Northern California, the Los Angeles Times reports. The specific lake hasn't been named. The illness is caused by the Naegleria fowleri parasite and is extremely rare. It usually crops up in warmer climates and has only sickened 10 people in California since 1971. How the infection can occur: A freshwater lake will have a population of the amoeba, and a swimmer will ingest some contaminated water through the nose; sometimes, that contamination makes it to the brain.

The parasite is rare, hard to find, and difficult to detect. The infection starts out as a headache and fever and can worsen to stiffness, seizures, and hallucinations, per the CDC. David developed serious symptoms on July 30, then swelling in his brain. He was taken to UC Davis Medical Center and died on Aug. 7. On a GoFundMe fundraiser started to cover David’s care and funeral expenses, the family asked that everyone learn about the signs and symptoms of PAM. (In one extremely unusual case, a woman in Seattle was infected by using a neti pot to rinse her sinuses.)