Child infected by deadly brain-eating amoeba at Texas playground

A little boy became sick and died after likely becoming infected with a rare, deadly amoeba at a splash pad in Arlington, Texas, according to city authorities.

The child was hospitalised with primary amoebic meningoencephalitis on 5 September and died six days later.

Naegleria fowleri amoeba – an organism that travels up the nose to the brain where it destroys the brain tissue – was then detected in water samples from the playground. The fatality rate for an infected person is over 97 per cent.

The city admitted that the water park had not been properly maintained and immediately closed all splash pads.