KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A patient who was infected earlier this summer with a rare brain-eating amoeba has died from the infection, Missouri health officials announced Wednesday.
The Missouri Department of Health and Human Services said Wednesday the patient, who had been in the intensive care unit at a St. Louis-area hospital since being infected, died from complications of the infection on Tuesday, Aug. 19.
Health officials first announced details of the infection last week. They believe the patient was infected while water skiing in July at the Lake of the Ozarks.
The infection, Naegleria fowleri, is a microscopic, single-celled free-living amoeba that can reach the brain through the nose.
It’s an extremely rare infection, affecting fewer than 10 people each year in the U.S.
No other cases of the infection have since been announced by Missouri officials.
More information about the infection is available on the CDC’s website.
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