Brain-Eating Amoeba Kills Swimmer In SC

Another person has died from the brain-eating amoeba after swimming in Lake Murray. This time, a 12-year old boy. The South Carolina Department of Public Health confirmed the death last week, marking the latest fatality from an organism that kills nearly everyone it infects.

The victim likely contracted Naegleria fowleri while swimming in the popular reservoir that stretches across 50,000 acres in the Midlands. Every summer, thousands flock to its 650 miles of shoreline for boating, swimming, and camping. Now one family is planning a funeral instead of their next lake trip.

How a Microscopic Killer Works

Naegleria fowleri lives in warm freshwater, especially when summer heat drives temperatures up and water levels down. The amoeba enters through the nose when people dive, jump, or get water forced up their nostrils. From there, it travels along the olfactory nerve straight to the brain.

Once it reaches brain tissue, the amoeba begins feeding. The infection, called primary amebic meningoencephalitis or PAM, destroys brain cells rapidly. Victims develop severe headaches, high fever, and nausea within days. Then come seizures, hallucinations, and coma. Most die within a week of their first symptoms.