( CNN ) -- A brain-eating amoeba that lurks in fresh water has prompted warnings from Kansas officials after it killed a 9-year-old girl . Hally Yust was an avid water skier and spent the past few weeks swimming in several bodies of fresh water . She died last week from Naegleria fowleri , a brain-eating parasite that lives in warm , standing water . At Hally 's funeral Monday , her family wore matching T-shirts with the logo of her water-skiing club , CNN affiliate WDAF said . Relatives honored the young athlete by announcing the Hally Yust Women 's Basketball Scholarship at Kansas State University . `` Our precious daughter , Hally , loved life and part of her great joy was spending time playing in the water , '' her family said in a statement . `` Her life was taken by a rare amoeba organism that grows in many different fresh water settings . We want you to know this tragic event is very , very rare , and this is not something to become fearful about . '' 'It just causes destruction ' While Naegleria fowleri infections are rare , they can have devastating effects . `` The amoeba ... finds itself way back in our noses and then can work its way into our central nervous system , around our brains , '' said Dr. William Schaffner of Vanderbilt University Medical Center . `` And once it 's there , it just causes destruction . '' Symptoms usually show up five days after infection , the Kansas Department of Health and Environment said . In addition to a severe headache , fever , nausea and vomiting , Naegleria fowleri infections often cause death . More frequent in summer . The cases are often reported in the summer , when more swimmers take a dip in fresh water . Last summer , 12-year-old Zachary Reyna of Florida became infected after he went knee-boarding in fresh water near his home . He later died . Also last summer , Kali Hardig of Arkansas went for a swim and was infected by the parasite . Despite incredible odds against her , Kali survived . Over the past 50 years , about 130 Naegleria fowleri infections have been reported . Of those , only three people -- including Kali -- have survived . While humans can get infected swimming in fresh water , people can not get infected from drinking water contaminated with the amoeba , the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said . How to protect yourself . The extreme rarity and randomness of infections can make it difficult to predict where they might occur . `` It is unknown why certain persons become infected with ( Naegleria fowleri ) while millions of others exposed to warm recreational fresh waters do not , including those who were swimming with people who became infected , '' the CDC said . The Kansas health department advises swimmers to use nose plugs when swimming in fresh water . It also suggests not stirring up the sediment at the bottom of shallow freshwater areas and keeping your head above the water in hot springs and other untreated thermal waters . But Naegleria fowleri is far from the biggest danger in summertime water activities . While 34 people were infected with the amoeba in the U.S. between 2004 and 2013 , there were more than 34,000 drowning deaths in the United States between 2001 and 2010 , the CDC said .
9-year-old Hally Kali died after contracting Naegleria fowleri . The amoeba can enter the nose , central nervous system and brain . 130 out of Only three infected people have survived over last summer . Florida health officials suggest wearing nose plugs in fresh water .