Outbreak

‘Brain-Eating Amoeba’ Kills Boy

Third victim this year.

A rare bug known as a “brain-eating amoeba” reportedly killed a 9-year-old Virginia boy, making him the third person this year to die from the infection. The boy, Christian Alexander Strickland, died from meningitis on Aug. 5, and his aunt Bonnie Strickland said doctors told the family that Naegleria fowleri, the brain-eating amoeba, was the suspected cause of his illness. While health-department officials would not comment on any specific cases, they did confirm there has been a Naegleria fowleri outbreak this summer. Naegleria fowleri moves into the body through the nose and destroys brain tissue, according to the Centers for Disease Control; the bug causes primary amoebic meningoencephalitis, a nearly always fatal disease of the central nervous system.