Brain-eating amoeba kills teenager who bathed in contaminated water — third death in two months

A 14-year-old boy died in India on Thursday from an infection caused by a brain-eating amoeba he contracted while swimming in contaminated waters.

The teenager, named Midrul, is believed to have contracted the parasite while bathing in a pond in Kozhikode, Kerala, India Today reported. He was later admitted to a local hospital on June 24 after contracting the infection.

Despite doctors' best efforts, he succumbed to his symptoms, marking the third amoeba-related death in the region in less than two months.

The other victims were a five-year-old girl from Malappuram on May 21 and a 13-year-old girl from Kannur who died on June 25, the Economic Times reported.

Midrul is believed to have been infected with Naegleria fowleri, the now-famous brain-eating amoeba that swims up people's noses and wreaks havoc on their brains.

He specifically suffered from primary amebic meningoencephalitis (PAM), a catastrophic disease that causes destruction of brain tissue and swelling of the brain, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

This microscopic scourge is found everywhere in warm fresh water, including lakes, rivers and even poorly maintained swimming pools. It cannot survive in salt water and cannot be transmitted from person to person.

Symptoms, which usually appear between one and 12 days after infection, initially include severe headache, fever, nausea and vomiting before progressing to neck stiffness, seizures and coma.

The disease is fatal in 97% of cases, with deaths usually occurring within a week of the first symptoms appearing.

To date, only five PAM survivors have been identified in North America.

Unfortunately, contaminated water could become more widespread due to climate change.

Scientists say global warming is creating ideal conditions for amoebas to thrive in bodies of water in the northern United States.