Tourist Infected With 'Worst Parasite in the World' Dies

The Missouri resident who was infected with a brain-eating amoeba while visiting Iowa has died. The unnamed person is believed to have contracted the amoeba while swimming in Taylor County's Lake of Three Fires in late June; the lake was closed afterward as a precaution. No other cases have been reported. "Because these cases are so incredibly rare and out of respect for the family, we do not intend to release additional information about the patient which could lead to the person’s identification," the communications director from the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services tells the Des Moines Register.

The Naegleria fowleri amoeba, which has been called "the worst parasite in the world," causes primary amebic meningoencephalitis, which has a fatality rate of 97%. The rare but deadly series of events happens when, while in warm freshwater, the amoeba goes up a person's nose. It travels from there to the brain tissue and starts destroying it. Headaches, fever, nausea, and vomiting are among the initial symptoms. Of the 154 cases reported in the US over the past six decades, only four people have survived, NBC News reports. The lake has not yet been confirmed as the source, and other public water sources are being tested, officials say. (More Naegleria fowleri stories.)