The boy – whose age and identity are yet to confirm – was playing at amusement with sprinklers and water features in a public park in Arlington, Texas.
A boy has died after contracting a brain-eating amoeba from a water feature at a public park.
The boy was playing at the Don Misenhimer Park in Arlington, Texas during the summer.
Splash pads can be found in parks. They have sprinklers, fountains and nozzles that spray water.
Officials initially were unsure who to blame for this tragedy. However, they now believe that the death was caused by human error.
They have “determined two possible sources for the child’s exposure” to water contaminated with brain-eating amoeba – Naegleria fowleri, the Tarrant County Public Health Department said in a statement.
Water containing this pathogen either came from water in Tarrant County or Arlington’s Don Misenhimer Park splash pad.
Public health officials received notification on September 5 that a child had been admitted to the hospital with a rare infection.
To conduct an investigation, authorities closed all splash pad parks.
The unidentified child was then pronounced dead six days later after being admitted to the hospital.
Officials have now admitted there were “gaps” in inspections carried out at the splash pads.
KSAT, a local broadcaster reports that workers did not carry out water quality checks in some cases.
“We have identified gaps in our daily inspection program. Those gaps resulted in us not meeting our maintenance standards at our splash pads,” Lemuel Randolph, Deputy City Manager.
According to city records cited by NBCDFW, “Parks and Recreation employees did not consistently record, or in some cases did not conduct, water quality testing that is required before the facilities opening each day.”
The boy died from a primary amebic meningoencephalitis infection.
The CDC reports that only 34 of these cases were reported in the US between 2010-2019.
According to Central Recorder, infected water usually enters the body through the nose.
Last month, a 7-year-old boy died tragically from the same rare condition.
After being infected with a rare brain-eating organism, a seven-year-old tragically lost his life.
David Pruitt was seven years old when he contracted the disease from swimming in a lake in Northern California. The condition is known as primary amoebic medinoencephalitis.
Crystal Hayley, the boy’s aunt, posted on a GoFundme page to announce that the boy had passed away after several days of life support.
She wrote: “We are sad and broken-hearted to report, that our sweet little David has passed on.
“He is now in the loving arms of our Lord and family members who have passed before him.
“We are rejoicing in knowing he is no longer in pain and the best of care.”