A Missouri resident died after being infected with a rare brain-eating amoeba at the Lake of the Ozarks, state health officials announced this week.

The patient, identified only as an adult from Missouri, died Tuesday at a St. Louis-area hospital, the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services (DHSS) said in a news release.

Officials confirmed on Aug. 13 that the individual had contracted Naegleria fowleri, a microscopic amoeba that causes primary amebic meningoencephalitis (PAM) — a rare but nearly always fatal brain infection often referred to as “brain-eating” disease.

Naegleria fowleri is naturally present in warm freshwater such as lakes, rivers and ponds. The amoeba thrives in river and lake water at 80 to 115 degrees Fahrenheit, especially after storms.

The amoeba infec

See Full Page