A brain eating amoeba infection has killed one Georgia resident, the state's Department of Public Health confirmed July 28.
Health officials declined to share further details about the individual or where the site of infection occurred.
Naegleria fowleri — the cause of brain eating amoeba infections — is often found in warm fresh water bodies like lakes, ponds, hot springs and rivers, and can be acquired when swimming or swallowing water with a high presence of the single-cell organism. However, it does not live in salt water or treated drinking water.
Because it exists naturally in the environment, there is not any routine testing done for it in bodies of water and levels of its presence cannot be controlled, the department stated.
"Though the risk of infection is low, recreational water users should always assume there is a risk when they enter warm fresh water," the release shared with Becker's stated. "If you choose to swim, you can reduce your risk of infection by limiting the amount of water that goes up the nose."
Cases of brain eating amoebas have been relatively common in the south for years due to warmer bodies of water in the region, but in recent years they have become more frequent in other states across the U.S. as climate changes have affected its naturally occurring presence.
Similar infections have only been confirmed in five other people in Georgia since 1962, according to the release.