Teen Rafter Dies of Brain-Eating Amoeba

An 18-year-old Ohio woman has died of a rare infection she contracted while whitewater rafting. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said the woman, Lauren Seitz, likely died from exposure to an amoeba that causes meningoencephalitis. Only about 10 cases of the illness are reported each year, though they are almost always fatal. Seitz is thought to have been exposed to the organism when her raft overturned in Charlotte, North Carolina. The U.S. National Whitewater Center, where Seitz went whitewater rafting, issued a statement about her death, assuring that all of its water is disinfected to “inactivate” the deadly amoeba. Health officials are carrying out an inspection of the site.