A child died of suspected brain-eating amoeba after swimming in the Nebraska River, officials say | US News

A child likely died from a rare infection caused by a brain-eating amoeba after swimming in a river, US health officials said.

The child, who has not been named by authorities, went swimming in the Elkhorn River in eastern Nebraska on August 8 and developed symptoms about five days later.

The child was hospitalized within 48 hours of the onset of symptoms and died 10 days later, according to the Douglas County Health Department.

Health officials told a news conference Thursday that doctors believe the child died of primary amebic encephalitis, an often fatal infection caused by naegleria fowleri – commonly known as the feeding amoeba. Brain.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is conducting tests to confirm the cause of the infection, said Dr. Lindsay Huse, Director of the Douglas County Department of Health.

If confirmed, it would be the first naegleria fowleri death in Nebraska’s history, the state’s Department of Health and Human Services said.

‘We can only imagine the devastation the family must have felt, and we extend our deepest condolences to them,’ Dr Huse said in a statement.

“We can honor a child’s memory by being educated about the risk and then taking steps to prevent infection.”

Naegleria fowleri is a single-celled organism that lives in warm soil and fresh water, such as lakes, rivers, and hot springs.

It is often called the brain-eating amoeba because it can cause a brain infection when water containing the amoeba goes up the nose.

According to the CDC, infections are extremely rare, but people who become infected often die.

There were 154 primary amebic brain infections in the US for nearly six decades between 1962 and 2021, and only four survived.

Amoebas have been found more and more in the northern states in recent years as air and water temperatures have increased.

Dr. Huse recommends that people wear a nose plug when swimming in warm, fresh water.

“For now, we are simply calling on the public to be aware and take precautions when they come into contact with any source of warm, fresh water,” she said.

A person cannot get an infection from swallowing water.

A Missouri resident died in July after ingesting an amoeba in a southwestern Iowa lake.