A 2-year-old boy from Nevada, died this week from a Naegleria fowleri infection, also known as a brain-eating amoeba, state health officials and his mother said.
The boy, from Lincoln County, just north of the Las Vegas area, may have been exposed at Ash Springs, a natural hot spring in the county, it said.
State health officials didn't publicly identify the child or immediately respond to a request for his name.
His mother, Briana Bundy, said her 2-year-old son, Woodrow Turner Bundy, died Wednesday after fighting the infection.
Woodrow loved animals, including chickens, rabbits, cows and especially elk, and enjoyed chasing his sisters around the house, according to an obituary.
In February, a man in Florida died from the amoeba that he may have contracted after he rinsed his sinuses with tap water, health officials said.
The disease progresses quickly after symptoms start, and patients usually die within 18 days or less. »
