9-year-old girl dies from brain-eating amoeba in water

-- A brain-eating amoeba that lurks in
fresh water has prompted warnings from Kansas
officials after it killed a 9-year-old girl.
Hally Yust was an avid water skier and spent the
past few weeks swimming in several bodies of
fresh water. She died last week from Naegleria
fowleri , a brain-eating parasite that lives in warm,
standing water.
At Hally's funeral Monday, her family wore
matching T-shirts with the logo of her water-
skiing club, CNN affiliate WDAF said. Relatives
honored the young athlete by announcing the
Hally Yust Women's Basketball Scholarship at
Kansas State University.
"Our precious daughter, Hally, loved life and part
of her great joy was spending time playing in the
water," her family said in a statement .
"Her life was taken by a rare amoeba
organism that grows in many different
fresh water settings. We want you to
know this tragic event is very, very
rare, and this is not something to
become fearful about."
'It just causes destruction'
While Naegleria fowleri infections are
rare, they can have devastating
effects.
"The amoeba ... finds itself way back
in our noses and then can work its
way into our central nervous system,
around our brains," said Dr. William
Schaffner of Vanderbilt University
Medical Center. "And once it's there,
it just causes destruction."
Symptoms usually show up about the
five days after infection, the Kansas
Department of Health and Environment
said.
In addition to a severe headache, fever, nausea
and vomiting, Naegleria fowleri infections often
cause death.
More frequent in summer
The cases are often reported in the summer, when
more swimmers take a dip in fresh water.
Last summer, 12-year-old Zachary Reyna of
Florida became infected after he went knee-
boarding in fresh water near his home. He later
died.
Also last summer, Kali Hardig of Arkansas went
for a swim and was infected by the parasite.
Despite incredible odds against her, Kali survived.
Over the past 50 years, about 130 Naegleria
fowleri infections have been reported. Of those,
only three people -- including Kali -- have
survived.
While humans can get infected swimming in fresh
water, people cannot get infected from drinking
water contaminated with the amoeba, the Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention said.
How to protect yourself
The extreme rarity and randomness of infections
can make it difficult to predict where they might
occur.
"It is unknown why certain persons become
infected with (Naegleria fowleri) while millions of
others exposed to warm recreational fresh waters
do not, including those who were swimming with
people who became infected," the CDC said.
The Kansas health department advises
swimmers to use nose plugs when
swimming in fresh water.
It also suggests not stirring up the
sediment at the bottom of shallow
freshwater areas and keeping your
head above the water in hot springs
and other untreated thermal waters.
But Naegleria fowleri is far from the
biggest danger in summertime water
activities. While 34 people were
infected with the amoeba in the U.S.
between 2004 and 2013, there were
more than 34,000 drowning deaths in
the United States between 2001 and 2010, the
CDC said.