Overview

• Jaysen Carr, 12, was diagnosed with primary amebic meningoencephalitis on July 7 after swimming in Lake Murray and died on July 18
• This is South Carolina’s first Naegleria fowleri case since 2016 and one of fewer than ten infections reported annually in the U.S.
• The Carr family has retained the Bailey Law Firm to conduct a private inquiry into how he contracted the brain-eating amoeba
• The South Carolina Department of Public Health maintains there is no elevated risk at Lake Murray and stresses that infections remain extremely uncommon
• CDC data show 167 U.S. cases since 1962 with a survival rate under 3% and recommend measures like using nose clips to prevent water entering the nostrils