A 9-year-old Kansas girl who loved water sports died Wednesday after contracting an extremely rare brain-eating amoeba that is found in warm freshwater lakes and rivers, officials said. Since the victim had been swimming in several bodies of water, it was impossible to determine which lake could have exposed her to the infection.
Hally Yust of Spring Hill, Kan., about 30 miles southwest of Kansas City, contracted an infection called primary amoebic meningoencephalitis, the Weather Channel and other outlets reported. After developing the infection from the Naegleria fowleri amoeba, an amoeba found in fresh water sources such as lakes, rivers and hot springs, she started complaining of meningitis-like symptoms and was hospitalized, USA Today reported.
With less than 200 cases in the U.S. being reported in the past five decades, Hally is the second known case of a person to have contracted the infection in Kansas, the Kansas Department of Health and Environment said Friday.
The rare amoeba is known to grow at higher temperatures, with the risk of infection increasing in summer and most commonly occurring in lakes and rivers in southern states, particularly Florida and Texas. "The amoeba goes up through the nose and into the brain and once it's there, there's really nothing anybody can do. There's only been one case that actually lived through this. All the other cases have passed away," Johnson County Health Department investigator Tiffany Geiger told Fox4KC, adding that precautionary measures like wearing noseplugs when swimming, skiing or doing other fresh water activities can help lower the risk of infection.
Hally's grieving family is struggling with the loss of their "precious daughter," Fox News reported. "It must have been a little boring in heaven the last few weeks so God looked around the earth and he found the most interesting, dynamic, fantastic person he could," Hally's mother Jenny Yust told Fox4KC, "and he said, 'Hally you gotta come be with me.'"
Her parents added that her death should not frighten families from spending time in the water since Hally, who loved to swim and water ski, enjoyed it so much. "We hope you will not live in fear of this rare infection that took our daughter's life," the family said in a statement to Fox4KC. "Our family is very active in water sports, and we will continue to be."
Meanwhile, a scholarship has been set up to provide educational opportunities for girls who love basketball by the Yust family in Hally's name. "She was smart and beautiful and our angel that we will dearly miss," Jenny told Fox4KC.
