A North Carolina teenager died after contracting a rare brain-eating amoeba found in lakes, rivers and other freshwater sources, according to authorities and reports.
The boy, identified by family as Moises Ponce Mendoza, died on Monday after developing the uncommon illness caused by Naegleria fowleri, the Guardian reported.
“We extend our condolences to the family, friends and community impacted by this loss,” the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services said in a statement obtained by the outlet.
The state’s health department said in a press release on Thursday that Mendoza was “critically ill and receiving medical care” after contracting Naegleria fowleri, which is commonly found in warm freshwater.
If the single-celled organism enters the nose and reaches the brain, it can cause an infection called primary amebic meningoencephalitis — which typically leads to coma and death within five days.
The organism is dubbed the “brain-eating amoeba” because it can infect the brain and destroy tissue, the agency said. Infections typically occur after swimming in lakes, rivers, or other freshwater bodies during the summer months when water levels are low and temperatures are high.
Symptoms typically start with severe headache, fever, nausea, and vomiting, and progress to stiff neck, seizures and coma.
Mendoza’s mother, Monica Mendoza, wrote in a GoFundMe fundraiser in Spanish last week that her son was a “young man full of life currently fighting for his life in the hospital — in a coma.”
“It all started with severe headaches. I never imagined that something like this could be so serious,” the heartbroken mother wrote in a translated fundraiser statement.
Monica added that she brought her son, whose age has not been released, to a hospital in Burlington, but was informed he could return home.
Mendoza’s condition worsened rapidly, and he had to be rushed to the University of North Carolina hospital’s emergency room on Saturday morning, where doctors finally discovered the sick teen had contracted an infection from the extremely rare brain-eating amoeba.
“From that moment on, our lives changed completely. Moises is in a coma; the doctors are doing everything possible to fight this illness and give him a chance to pull through,” the mother wrote in the fundraiser for medical expenses.
The NCDHHS did not immediately respond to The Post’s request for additional comment.
The department previously said that the source of the case is under investigation. Typically, less than 10 people a year in the United States get primary amebic meningoencephalitis
Mendoza’s tragic death comes just over a week after Lillian Smart, 8, died from an infection linked to the brain-eating amoeba after swimming in a northern Louisiana lake.
