Eight-year-old Lillian Smart of Ruston, Louisiana, died Saturday, one day after celebrating her birthday, after contracting a rare and typically fatal brain-eating amoeba, *Naegleria fowleri*. Health officials believe she was infected while swimming in Lake Claiborne.
*Naegleria fowleri* causes primary amebic meningoencephalitis (PAM), a disease of the brain, and is usually fatal. Lillian Smart’s family announced her death in a public Facebook post. Her family stated her brain injuries were too severe to survive.
Both The Guardian and Fox News reported the details of Lillian Smart’s death and the likely source of infection.
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