Health security

Brain-eating amoeba: What is it, and how do you prevent contracting it?

The family of an Ohio teen that died after contracting a brain-eating amoeba during a Whitewater rafting trip last June recently filed a wrongful death lawsuit against a North Carolina recreation facility.

Lauren Seitz died in June 2016 after contracting meningoencephalitis when she was thrown overboard during a rafting trip near Charlotte, according to the New York Daily News.

The deadly infection is caused by the amoeba Naegleria fowleri.

Swimmers enjoying the summer weather may want to take some extra precautions to prevent contracting the dangerous brain-eating amoeba.