2-year-old Nevada boy dies of brain-eating amoeba

CNN
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A 2-year-old boy died this week of a brain-eating amoeba infection, according to the Nevada Division of Public and Behavioral Health (DPBH) and a Facebook post from the child’s mother.

According to the DPBH statement, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has confirmed that Naegleria fowleri, also known as the brain-eating amoeba, was the cause of the boy’s illness and corresponding death.

State investigators believe the boy may have been exposed to the amoeba at Ash Springs, a natural hot spring located on federal land in Lincoln County, the statement said.

“Naegleria fowleri is a microscopic single-celled living amoeba that occurs naturally in the environment. This amoeba can cause a rare, very serious brain infection called primary amoebic meningoencephalitis (PAM) that destroys brain tissue and is almost always fatal,” the DPBH statement noted.