COLUMBIA, S.C.—A 12-year-old boy died from a brain-eating amoeba two weeks after a holiday weekend on a popular South Carolina lake.
The brain-eating amoeba enters the body when water is forced up the nose, like when someone jumps or dives in the water.
It causes an infection that swells the brain and destroys tissue. Fewer than 10 cases are reported each year in the U.S., but almost all are fatal.
Here are some things to know about the amoeba, its latest victim and other dangers on freshwater lakes:
The amoeba’s scientific name is Naegleria fowleri and it is most dangerous in very warm water, including in lakes and rivers in the southern part of the U.S. and other places with hot, sometimes dry summers like Pakistan and Australia….