A Texas surf resort was closed Friday so its water could be tested after a visitor from New Jersey died from what is commonly known as the “brain-eating amoeba.”
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is testing the water in the wave pool at BSR Cable Park's Surf Resort for the parasitic Naegleria fowleri after Fabrizio Stabile, 29, died earlier this month, the Waco Tribune reported.
Park owner Stuart E. Parsons Jr. said Stabile had been in the wave pool.
"Our hearts and prayers are with his family, friends, and the New Jersey surf community during this difficult time," Parsons told the Tribune. "BSR Surf Resort operates a state of the art artificial man-made wave. We are in compliance with the CDC guidelines and recommendations concerning Naegleria fowleri."
Naegleria fowleri occurs in warm freshwater. Typically people are infected when contaminated water enters through their nose. It is normally fatal. Only four people out of 143 infected between 1962 and 2017 survived, according to the CDC.
The last confirmed case in Texas was in 2016, The Tribune reported.
Stabile is described as an avid outdoorsman who loved fishing, surfing and snowboarding. His family created a GoFundMe account to establish a foundation to raise awareness about the rare and fatal parasite.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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