North Carolina man dies of brain-eating amoeba after visiting water park

(HealthDay)—The rare brain-eating amoeba Naegleria fowleri has been confirmed as the cause of death of a North Carolina man.

Health officials said the man became sick after swimming in a manmade lake at Fantasy Lake Water Park in Cumberland County on July 12, CBS News reported.

The infection was caused by the amoeba naturally present in warm freshwater during the summer, the state Department of Health and Human Resources said in a news release. Infection can occur when amoeba-contaminated water enters the body through the nose, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The condition remains very rare: Just 145 people in the United States are known to have been infected with the amoeba from 1962 through 2018, health officials noted.