A weekend swim left a young girl fighting for her life when she contracted a brain-eating amoeba with a 97% fatality rate. Lily Mae Avant died from a very simple amoeba in Texas. The 10-year-old girl swam in the Brazos River and Lake Whitney in Bosque County near Waco over Labor Day weekend.

We have all gone for a swim in out Texas lakes and rivers, without thinking about the consequences. Who really knew about how dangerous our fresh water swimming areas actually are?

Here’s what the CDC says:

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says the amoeba is a single-cell living organism commonly found in warm freshwater like lakes and rivers. The amoeba enters the body through the nose, travels to the brain and destroys brain tissue, according to the CDC.

Between 2009 and 2018, the CDC says only 34 cases of the Naegleria fowleri infection were reported in the US. Only four people out of the 145 known cases survived between 1962 and 2018.

The CDC recommends not to swim in warm freshwater.

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