--- title: Florida Swimmer Contracts Brain-Eating Amoeba description: A swimmer in south Florida has been infected by brain-eating amoeba canonical: https://time.com/4448411/florida-swimmer-brain-eating-amoeba/ author: Abigail Abrams article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-08-11T15:48:18.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-03-31T10:01:10.674Z article:section: Health og:title: Florida Swimmer Contracts Brain-Eating Amoeba og:description: The fatality rate is 97% for those infected og:url: https://time.com/4448411/florida-swimmer-brain-eating-amoeba/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltedcacc42ad69bf79/6988a203bc6cfc1ead3de382/amoeba-brain-eating.jpg?branch=production&width=640&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: amoeba-brain-eating og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Florida Swimmer Contracts Brain-Eating Amoeba twitter:description: The fatality rate is 97% for those infected twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltedcacc42ad69bf79/6988a203bc6cfc1ead3de382/amoeba-brain-eating.jpg?branch=production&width=640&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Florida Swimmer Infected by Brain-Eating Amoeba by [Abigail Abrams](https://time.com/author/abigail-abrams/) ## Abigail Abrams Aug 11, 2016 3:48 PM UTC  Naegleria fowlerii Naegleria fowleriiCDC by [Abigail Abrams](https://time.com/author/abigail-abrams/) ## Abigail Abrams Aug 11, 2016 3:48 PM UTC A swimmer in south Florida has been infected by [brain-eating amoeba](http://abcnews.go.com/US/florida-confirms-case-brain-eating-amoeba/story?id=41294220), _ABC News_ reports. The Florida Health Department confirmed the case after the swimmer spent time in unsanitary water on private property in Broward County. The infected person, whose age, name and gender have not been released, is being treated at a local hospital. The amoeba’s scientific name is Naegleria fowlerii. It can cause a rare and devastating infection of the brain, according to the [Centers for Disease Control and Prevention](http://www.cdc.gov/parasites/naegleria/index.html). People are usually infected when amoeba enters their nose, and it is most often found in warm freshwater, according to the CDC. The infection caused by the organism is extremely fatal. Of the 138 individuals infected in the United States from 1962 to 2015, only three survived. This case in Florida comes days after an [11-year-old girl died](http://www.cbsnews.com/news/11-year-old-south-carolina-girl-dies-after-contracting-brain-eating-amoeba/) from the amoeba after she swam in a river in South Carolina. Florida Swimmer Contracts Brain-Eating Amoeba ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4448411/florida-swimmer-brain-eating-amoeba/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4448411/florida-swimmer-brain-eating-amoeba/"},"headline":"Florida Swimmer Infected by Brain-Eating Amoeba","datePublished":"2016-08-11T15:48:18.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-31T10:01:10.674Z","description":"The fatality rate is more than 97% for those infected","url":"https://time.com/4448411/florida-swimmer-brain-eating-amoeba/","keywords":["Florida","infection"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltedcacc42ad69bf79/6988a203bc6cfc1ead3de382/amoeba-brain-eating.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Abigail Abrams","jobTitle":"","url":"https://time.com/author/abigail-abrams/"}],"articleSection":"Health","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltedcacc42ad69bf79/6988a203bc6cfc1ead3de382/amoeba-brain-eating.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"amoeba-brain-eating","caption":"Naegleria fowlerii","creditText":"CDC","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/health/","name":"Health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/florida/","name":"Florida"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4448411/florida-swimmer-brain-eating-amoeba/","name":"Florida Swimmer Infected by Brain-Eating Amoeba"}}]}] ```