Woodrow Bundy, 2, has died from a Naegleria fowleri infection, a brain-eating amoeba, after visiting a Nevada hot spring, officials said.
A Nevada 2-year-old has died from an infection caused by a brain-eating amoeba after visiting a Nevada hot spring, officials said.
The Nevada Division of Public and Behavioral Health (DPBH) announced Thursday that a young child died as a result of a Naegleria fowleri infection, which is known as a brain-eating amoeba.
The DPBH did not release the child's identity, but NBC News identified the boy as 2-year-old Woodrow Bundy.
The young one's mother, Briana Bundy, said that Woodrow had fought for a week before succumbing to the infection on Wednesday, according to a family members' Facebook update.
“He is my hero and I will forever be grateful to God for giving me the goodest baby boy on earth, and I am grateful to know I will have that boy in heaven someday,” Bundy said in the post.
Woodrow's infection was confirmed to be from the brain-eating amoeba by the Centers for Disease Control, according to the DPBH. The amoeba occurs naturally in the environment and causes an infection in the brain that is almost always fatal.
The boy is believed to have been exposed to Naegleria fowleri when he visited Ash Springs, a hot spring in Nevada, DPBH said. The amoeba lives in soil and warm freshwater, such as the hot springs, and can enter through the nose to infect a person.
The risk of being infected by the brain-eating amoeba is relatively low, with only 29 reported infections in the U.S. between 2013 to 2022, according to the CDC.
Despite the low risk, the CDC recommends taking precautions while swimming in warm bodies of water, such as keeping your head above water, holding your nose and mouth shut while underwater, and avoiding digging or stirring up the sediment in shallow warm water, the DPBH said.
