An American girl died from a rare infection known as "brain-eating disease" just one day after celebrating her eighth birthday, in an incident that shocked her family and community.
Lillian Smart contracted the infection while swimming in Lake Clyburn in northern Louisiana, according to health officials. The state health department announced that one of its residents had been infected and hospitalized, without disclosing their identity, before her family confirmed via social media that she was suffering from the infection in the pediatric intensive care unit.
In a statement, the girl’s family expressed their grief and pain at her loss, noting that the injuries to her brain were extremely severe, and that everyone did their best to save her, but her small body could not recover. They added that they do not know how they will move forward with their lives without her among them.
It is worth noting that Naegleria fowleri is a microscopic amoeba that causes primary amoebic meningoencephalitis, a rare and fatal brain infection in most cases, with a mortality rate of up to 97%. It is transmitted when contaminated water enters the nose, and the amoeba travels to the brain. It is not transmitted through swallowing, and it is not found in salt water or properly chlorinated swimming pools.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, symptoms typically appear five days after exposure to the infection, starting with headache, fever, and nausea, then progressing to neck stiffness, seizures, and coma, leading to death within one to two weeks. Louisiana has recorded three previous deaths linked to this amoeba since 2011, while the CDC recorded only two cases nationwide last year.
