A boy in Nevada has died from primary amebic meningoencephalitis, or PAM, a rare infection caused by the brain-eating amoeba Naegleria fowleri, state health officials said Oct. 19.
The Southern Nevada Health District did not disclose the boy's age but said he was a resident of Clark County, Nev. The boy developed symptoms about a week after swimming in Lake Mead.
N. fowleri typically infects people when contaminated water enters their body through the nose. The parasite is often found in warm bodies of freshwater such as lakes and rivers.
PAM infections are rare but almost always fatal. Of the 154 people in the U.S. who have contracted the infection between 1962 and 2021, only four have survived, according to the CDC.