WORST NIGHTMARE EVER

Texas Brain-Eating Amoeba Kills 6-Year-Old Boy

The boy died earlier this month after contracting naegleria fowleri from a splash pool in his back yard.

The death of a 6-year-old boy from a rare brain-eating amoeba he likely contracted in a splash pool in Lake Jackson, Texas, is what prompted officials to warn tens of thousands of people to use local water only for flushing toilets. Josiah McIntyre died on Sept. 8 from primary amebic meningoencephalitis, which is caused by the amoeba naegleria fowleri. Tests also found the brain-eating amoeba in a splash pad, spigot, and water hose at the boy’s home. McIntyre’s mother Maria Castillo said at a benefit for him over the weekend that he was an active little boy. “He was a really good big brother. He just loved and cared about a lot of people,” she said. The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality issued an urgent advisory warning people not to use tap water for anything but toilets until the foreseeable future.