Florida Teenager Infected With Brain-Eating Amoeba After Swimming In Beach

A young boy is fighting for his life in a Florida hospital, weeks after he was infected with a brain-eating amoeba while swimming.

13-year-old Caleb Ziegelbauer was visiting Port Charlotte Beach on July 1 with his family and went swimming. A week later, he had sudden headaches, and fever and was experiencing hallucinations, Fox reported.

Caleb’s parents rushed him to an emergency room, where doctors told them that Naegleria fowleri, also known as the “brain-eating amoeba” had infected their son’s brain, Today reported.

Naegleria fowleri is a single-celled organism, found in warm freshwater, that can attack the brain and can cause a deadly infection. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, you cannot be infected with the bacteria from drinking water, it can only happen when contaminated water goes up into your nose.

According to a GoFundMe his aunts — Katie Cheat and Elizabeth Zigelbauer — had recently launched for Caleb, the teenager is experiencing seizures and needed a blood transfusion.

“He’s just the kindest soul but he’s so strong,” Elizabeth Ziegelbauer, Caleb’s Aunt, told WBBH. “He’s so strong. Like the fighting on the outside, that’s what we’re doing. He is fighting his little heart out on the inside.”

Doctors were delayed initially in diagnosing Caleb. Chiet and Ziegelbauer wrote that Caleb was initially diagnosed with meningitis—which shares a similarity with the amoeba Naegleria fowleri—but doctors later discovered that he had contracted a “brain-eating” amoeba.

“All we can do is hold onto hope because we know he’s going to fight through this,” Ziegelbauer told Fox News Digital. “He will.”

Caleb began the treatment protocol prescribed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) for the amoeba Naegleria fowleri on Sunday, July 10, which included sedation and intubation, Caleb’s aunt shared on the GoFundMe page.

“[He] Has been breathing on his own for almost a full week now. His MRI scans from 7/20 continue to show damage in his brain, but we hope he turns the corner soon.”

Caleb’s parents, brother, and sister are said to be “safe” and do not appear to have contacted the parasite.

According to the CDC, humans commonly contact amoeba Naegleria fowleri after swimming or diving in lakes, rivers, and hot springs. Improperly chlorinated pools can also be a culprit, although this is not common.

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An amoeba thrives in warm temperatures (up to 115 degrees Fahrenheit) and enters the body through the nose when a person’s head is submerged in water.

Since Naegleria fowleri feeds on other organisms such as bacteria, an amoeba can attack brain tissue if it is not detected in time.

“Early symptoms [Naegleria fowleri] begin about day 5 (range 1 to 12 days) after infection,” the CDC says. “Early symptoms may include headache, fever, nausea, or vomiting. Later symptoms may include stiff neck, confusion, lack of attention to people and surroundings, loss of balance, seizures, and hallucinations.”

Headache is a common symptom of the amoeba Naegleria fowleri, a ‘brain-eating’ parasite.

The CDC continued, “After the onset of symptoms, the disease progresses rapidly and usually causes death within about 5 days (range 1 to 18 days).”

The health agency notes that “Naegleria fowleri occurrence is common, infections are rare,” but recreational water users should assume that it is present in warm freshwater.

Only four people of 154 known infected with the bacteria in the United States from 1962-2021 recovered, according to the CDC.

In early July, a Missouri resident was treated for an infection from Naegleria fowleri after swimming at an Iowa beach. The beach where the swimmer was infected was shut down temporarily as a precaution.