A brain-eating amoeba may have killed child in Nebraska, officials say

A Nebraska child died this week after a suspected rare infection from a brain-eating amoeba — the first reported death from that specific organism in the state’s history, according to state and local health authorities.

The child — who has not been publicly identified, to protect the family’s privacy — is thought to have contracted an infection called primary amoebic meningoencephalitis (PAM), caused by Naegleria fowleri, a single-celled organism found in warm freshwater sources such in as rivers, lakes and streams. Health authorities say the child may have become infected after swimming Aug. 8 in shallow water in the Elkhorn River in Douglas County.