8-Year-Old Girl Dies From Rare Brain-Eating Amoeba in Louisiana

Lillian Smart, an 8-year-old girl from Louisiana, died over the weekend after contracting a rare Naegleria fowleri infection, marking the state's first confirmed case since 2013.

Health authorities believe the infection was contracted while swimming in Lake Claiborne, where water temperatures exceeded the 77 degrees Fahrenheit threshold required for the amoeba to thrive.

Naegleria fowleri causes primary amoebic meningoencephalitis, a condition that is nearly always fatal, with only about 180 confirmed cases reported in the United States between 1937 and 2025.