Brain-eating amoeba Naegleria fowleri protozoans in trophozoite form. Getty Images The boy's death in Nevada comes after at least two other cases reported in 2022.

Naegleria fowleri is commonly found in southern U.S. states during the summer months. However, recently it has also been found and caused infections in some northern states.

Naegleria fowleri is commonly referred to as the "brain-eating amoeba" because it destroys brain tissue, causing brain swelling and usually death, according to the Georgia Department of Public Health.

Naegleria fowleri is less likely to be found in water as temperatures decline, the CDC says, but it’s still warm right now in Texas and many other Southern parts of the country, Dr. William ...

Naegleria fowleri can make its own nutrients, but still forages soil or water for food from bacteria, fungi and other organisms. That is how problems can arise for freshwater swimmers, Rice said.

How does Naegleria fowler spread? According to the CDC, Naegleria fowleri has three stages in its life cycle: cyst, trophozoites and flagellated forms. It's only active in the trophozoite stage.

Naegleria fowleri occurs naturally in freshwater bodies, such as lakes, rivers, and hot springs. While infectionsare rare, they occur mainly during the warmer months of July, August, and September.

Naegleria fowleri is a free-living amoeba, which means it doesn’t need a host to survive. “There are lots of free-living amoeba in the environment,” said Dennis Kyle, director of the Center ...

Naegleria fowleri is common in the environment but infections are extremely rare, said Emma H. Wilson, a professor of biomedical sciences at the University of California at Riverside.

Officials in Nevada are warning visitors of a brain-eating amoeba, with a near 100% infection fatality rate, present at Lake Mead. Lake Mead National Recreation Area said Naegleria fowleri ...

Naegleria fowleri lays waste to cells in the brain, leading to a grisly demise in the very rare cases when it manages to lodge itself in a victim's nasal cavity.