Lillian Smart, 8, died Saturday at a Ruston hospital one day after her birthday from a brain-eating amoeba infection linked to a swim in Lake Claiborne.
The Louisiana Department of Health announced Wednesday that a state resident had been hospitalized with Naegleria fowleri, a microscopic amoeba that causes a rare and often fatal brain infection. State officials did not publicly name Lillian as the patient, but her family identified her on social media and said she had been admitted to the pediatric intensive care unit at a Ruston hospital.
The health department said the infection was most likely acquired while the patient was swimming in Lake Claiborne shortly before becoming ill. Louisiana Department of Health records show three previous deaths associated with Naegleria fowleri in the state since 2011.
“The injuries to her brain were too severe for her little body to recover from,” the Smart family said in a statement posted Sunday morning on Facebook. “Everyone did everything they could to keep her here.”
The family continued, “We are heartbroken and honestly do not know what to do next. How do we put one foot in front of the other without our girl?”
Naegleria fowleri causes primary amoebic meningoencephalitis, or PAM, an extremely rare brain infection that develops when contaminated water enters the nose and the amoeba travels to the brain. People cannot become infected by swallowing contaminated water.
Symptoms typically begin with headache, fever, nausea and vomiting before progressing to a stiff neck, seizures and coma. Symptoms generally appear about five days after infection, and the disease can lead to death within about one to two weeks.
About 97% of people who develop PAM die from the infection, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The CDC reported two PAM cases nationwide last year. Of the 173 infections documented over roughly the past 90 years, nearly 91% occurred in July and August.
The amoeba is not found in saltwater or properly chlorinated swimming pools.
Louisiana’s three previous Naegleria fowleri deaths since 2011 include two in 2011: a 20-year-old man in St. Bernard Parish died after using tap water to rinse his sinuses, and a 51-year-old woman in DeSoto Parish died after using tap water for a similar purpose. In 2013, a 4-year-old boy contracted the amoeba while visiting a home in St. Bernard Parish, where he had played on a slip-and-slide. State officials later reported that CDC testing detected Naegleria fowleri in the parish water system.
A representative for the Louisiana Department of Health did not immediately respond to a request for comment.