8-Year-Old Dies From Rare Brain-Eating Amoeba Likely Contracted While Swimming in Louisiana Lake
Health officials said the infection was likely acquired while swimming, and the amoeba has caused only 180 known U.S. cases since 1937.
- On Saturday, 8-year-old Lillian Smart died at a Ruston hospital after contracting Naegleria fowleri, a rare brain-eating amoeba health officials believe she encountered while swimming in Lake Claiborne.
- The Louisiana Department of Health announced Wednesday a resident was hospitalized with the pathogen, which causes primary amebic meningoencephalitis when water containing the amoeba enters the nasal canal.
- Naegleria fowleri is commonly found in warm freshwater; symptoms typically appear within five days and are fatal in 97% of cases, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control.
- Governor Jeff Landry and Attorney General Liz Murrill offered condolences Sunday, with Landry writing on X, "Heartbroken over the news of Lillian's passing," as the Smart family leaned on their Christian faith.
- There have been only 180 known cases in the U.S. since 1937, with Louisiana recording three during that time; the amoeba cannot cause infection if swallowed and is not found in properly chlorinated pools.
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An 8-year-old girl in Louisiana died after becoming infected with an extremely rare amoeba that devours the brain and is found in warm fresh water, her family reported.
Associated Press News
8-year-old Louisiana girl dies from a rare brain-eating amoeba found in warm freshwater
An 8-year-old girl in Louisiana has died after being infected by an extremely rare brain-eating amoeba that is found in warm freshwater. A family spokesperson says Lillian Smart died Saturday evening after being diagnosed with an infection caused by a rare amoeba called Naegleria fowleri.
Inoculated on August 15, the child died the day after her birthday for primary amoebic meningocephalitis, a disease with a mortality rate greater than 97%
An eight-year-old girl died on Saturday from a rare infection with a brain-eating amibe
Ruston 8-year-old dies after contracting rare brain amoeba infection
RUSTON, La. (KTVE/KARD) -- On Saturday, August 22, 2026, a young girl from Ruston, La., tragically passed away after fighting a rare brain amoeba infection, according to her family. Lillian Smart, a fun-loving 8-year-old, was hospitalized on August 15, 2026, after contracting Naegleria fowleri, a rare brain amoeba infection believed to have been contracted while [...]
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