MINNEAPOLIS (AP) - A 14-year-old boy who developed a rare brain infection after swimming in a Minnesota lake has died.
In a statement issued through the University of Minnesota Medical Center, the family of Hunter Boutain, of Alexandria, says his condition deteriorated through the night and he was declared brain dead Thursday morning.
A spokesman for the University of Minnesota Masonic Children's Hospital confirmed the boy's death.
The Centers for Disease Control and Minnesota Department of Health are trying to confirm whether the 14-year-old boy's life-threatening brain infection is the result of the Naegleria fowleri amoeba, a water parasite that's more common in warmer southern states. They said they don't have a definitive timeline for getting results. If confirmed, it would be Minnesota's third verified case of the amoeba. The two previous cases happened in 2010 and 2012.
Boutain became ill after swimming in Lake Minnewaska.
The new case has health officials puzzled because it happened in a much bigger lake than the two previous cases - in 2010 and 2012 in Stillwater's shallow Lily Lake - and this summer has been relatively cool, Minnesota Public Radio reported. The amoeba had not been found so far north before 2010.
"It is not what we think of as typical because the risk is greater when water temperatures are higher and water levels are lower," said Trisha Robinson, waterborne diseases unit supervisor for the Minnesota Department of Health.
A warming climate could be making it easier for the amoeba to thrive in Minnesota waters, but Robinson said there isn't enough evidence to support that theory yet. She said it's just as likely this new case was an unfortunate coincidence.
While the amoeba is common, the risks of infection are still extremely low, she said. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says at least 133 people have been infected in the U.S. over the last five decades.
It enters the brain through the nasal cavity, and diving or jumping into the water seems to pose the greatest risk, according to Dr. Stacene Maroushek, a pediatric infectious disease specialist at Hennepin County Medical Center.
"Try to avoid getting water up the nose," she said. "Use nose plugs or at least try not to do diving that pushes water up the nose and things," she said.