A 12-year-old Southwest Florida boy is fighting for his life in Miami Children’s Hospital after playing in water that was contaminated with Naegleria fowleri, a rare and deadly organism that attacks the brain, the Fort Myers News-Press reports. According to the CDC, just one person has recovered from primary amebic meningoencephalitis out of the 128 who were infected in the U.S. between 1962 and 2012.
The amoeba is mostly found in warm fresh water.
Boy, 12, Infected with Deadly Amoeba
CDC
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The Florida Channel