- Eight-year-old Lillian Smart of Ruston, Louisiana, has died after contracting the rare brain-eating amoeba Naegleria fowleri.
- Health officials believe the child likely contracted the infection while swimming at Lake Claiborne in Louisiana.
- The amoeba causes primary amebic meningoencephalitis, a nearly always fatal condition that travels to the brain when contaminated warm fresh water enters the nose.
- Lillian suffered severe symptoms including a fever, double vision, and significant brain swelling before passing away a day after her eighth birthday.
- The Louisiana Department of Health noted that such cases are extremely rare, with only 180 known cases reported in the U.S. between 1937 and 2025.
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