Health officials have conducted tests at a landlocked surf resort in Central Texas after a man who visited there died from what is known as a "brain-eating amoeba". According to The Waco Tribune Herald, Fabrizio "Fab" Stabile passed away from an infection linked to Naegleria Fowleri, which is an extremely rare and deadly organism that targets the brain.
A small CDC team collected samples for Naegleria fowleri testing and will be working with the health department on recommendations to provide the facility on how to reduce potential exposures.
Meanwhile, the BSR Surf Resort voluntarily closed its doors until the results of the analysis determine whether the surfer was infected, or not, in the artificial wave pool.
It causes the nervous-system infection primary amebic meningoencephalitis (PAM) by traveling up a person's nostrils and into their brain, but can not be transmitted if a person swallows water contaminated with the bug.
Tests of his body showed the presence of Naegleria Fowleri, a brain-eating amoeba contracted by ingesting warm freshwater in bodies of water such as lakes, rivers, and hot springs.
He was rushed to hospital after he was unable to speak coherently to his mother or get out of his bed several hours later.
According to the CDC, Naegleria fowleri infections are rare, with just 34 reported between 2008 and 2017.
An obituary for Stabile in The Press of Atlantic City describes him as an avid outdoorsman who loved surfing, snowboarding and fishing. If water containing the amoeba goes up the nose, it can cause an infection that is fatal 97 percent of the time.
"After the start of symptoms, the disease progresses rapidly and usually causes death within about 5 days (range 1 to 12 days)", the agency said.
She said she didn't know when Stabile was at the park.
The owner of BSR Cable Park, Stuart E. Parsons Jr., said the park will continue to comply with requests related to the investigation of Stabile's death.
It's unclear if the park remained closed Sunday morning.