A Nevada toddler died after contracting a rare but fatal infection, health officials confirmed.
2-year-old Woodrow Bundy from Lincoln County succumbed to a brain-eating amoeba infection after he visited Ash Springs, a natural hot spring in the county.
“It came real fast. Flu-like symptoms, fever – just like any other little sickness that a little boy might get,” the little victim's aunt said.
The infection is caused by Naegleria fowleri, a microscopic amoeba that thrives in warm freshwaters and surrounding soil.
The amoeba enters the human body through the nose and makes its way to the brain where it starts to multiply and destroy brain tissue.
“If you wind up getting infected with it, chances are you're going to die,” said Dr. Brian Labus. “Very few people have actually survived this type of infection.”
“It progresses rather rapidly because it's actively destroying brain tissue. So, it's very difficult for your body to deal with something like that and fight it off.”
The CDC urges people not to jump into warm freshwater bodies during summertime and avoid keeping their heads underwater while visiting natural hot springs and geothermal waters.
