A child in South Carolina has died after being infected with Naegleria fowleri, commonly referred to as brain-eating amoeba.

A lawyer for the family of 12-year-old Jaysen Carr said he died on July 18 after contracting a deadly infectious amoeba while ...

The Naegleria fowleri is a free-living amoeba, which is a one-celled organism that thrives in warm fresh water like lakes, ...

Bacteria are prokaryotic cells, and some infect single-celled eukaryotes such as amoeba, but as symbionts that benefit the amoeba by shielding them from viruses. Right now, giant viruses are not ...

The amoeba only lives in freshwater, so swimming in the ocean is not a risk, Lundstrom added. Naegleria fowleri thrives in warm water, growing best at temperatures up to 115°F.

The amoeba can be found in warm freshwater but occasionally has been detected in tap water. The South Carolina health agency ...

The amoeba Polysphondylium pallidum, for instance, ... Zhang S, at al. A chemical radar allows bacteria to detect and kill predators, Cell (2025). DOI: 10.1016/j.cell.2025.02.033.

There were a little more than 70 cases of this flesh-eating bacteria in Florida over the last year, according to state health department data.

The infection can only occur when the bacteria enters the human body through the nose. Naegleria fowleri is a single-celled amoeba that can enter a human’s nose via contaminated water.