Missouri health officials: Person contracted 'brain-eating amoeba', was at Lake of the Ozarks before falling ill

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (KAKE) - Missouri health officials say that a resident contracted a lab-confirmed case of what's commonly known as a "brain-eating" amoeba.

KMBC-TV reports that officials with the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services announced an adult Missouri resident was diagnosed with a case of Naegleria fowleri, a microscopic single-celled free-living amoeba that can cause a rare, deadly infection called primary amebic meningoencephalitis (PAM). It's more commonly known as a "brain-eating" amoeba.