A child has died after contracting a rare but deadly brain-eating amoeba infection while visiting a home in Louisiana , according to state health officials . Officials believe the child is a 4-year-old boy from Mississippi who may have come in contact with the waterborne Naegleria fowleri amoeba while playing on a plastic toy water slide , St. Bernard Parish President David Peralta told CNN affiliate WWLTV . Water samples taken from the home tested positive for the amoeba , according to the Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals . The state health department has not released the child 's age or identity . Out of what officials describe as `` an abundance of caution , '' St. Bernard Parish on Thursday began treating its water system with additional chlorine and flushing any potentially contaminated water from its lines . This treatment may result in changes in the smell , taste and color of the local water , the health department said , but it is still safe to drink . While initial tests for the amoeba were negative , the health department said tests showed low levels of chlorine in some areas of the water supply . `` We are working with the parish to make sure precautionary measures are being taken while we await additional test results on samples taken from the area 's water system , '' Assistant Secretary for Public Health J.T . Lane said in a statement . The health department said the amoeba results may take up to a month to confirm . The Mississippi boy 's death is the second widely reported loss of a child due to Naegleria fowleri in less than two weeks . Last month , the same parasite killed Zachary Reyna , a 12-year-old from Florida . A third child , 12-year-old Kali Hardig from Arkansas , survived the infection that struck her after she contracted the amoeba in July . Between 2001 and 2010 , there were only 32 reported cases of people getting Naegleria fowleri in the United States , according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention . Most of the cases have been in the Southeast . Naegleria fowleri is found in hot springs and warm freshwater , most often in the Southeastern United States . The amoeba enters the body through the nose and travels to the brain . There is no danger of infection from drinking contaminated water , the CDC said . `` This infection is one of the most severe infections that we know of , '' Dr. Dirk Haselow of the Arkansas Department of Health told CNN affiliate WMC about Kali 's case . `` Ninety-nine percent of people who get it die . '' The first symptoms of primary amoebic meningoencephalitis appear one to seven days after infection , including headache , fever , nausea , vomiting and a stiff neck , according to the CDC . `` Later symptoms include confusion , lack of attention to people and surroundings , loss of balance , seizures and hallucinations , '' the agency website says . `` After the start of symptoms , the disease progresses rapidly and usually causes death within one to 12 days . ''
They may have come in contact with parasite through a plastic covered water slide . St. Bernard Parish water supply is being treated as a precautionary measure . There is no danger of infection from drinking contaminated water . A Florida year - old died of the same disease less than two weeks ago .