8-YEAR-OLD LOUISIANA GIRL D-IES AFTER CONTRACTING RARE BRAIN-EATING AMOEBA FOLLOWING LAKE SWIM. (PHOTO).

 8-year-old Louisiana girl dies after contracting rare brain-eating amoeba following lake swim

 Lillian Smart, an 8-year-old Louisiana girl, has died after contracting Naegleria fowleri, a rare and often fatal brain-eating amoeba. Health officials believe she was likely exposed while swimming in Lake Claiborne, about 60 miles northeast of Shreveport.

Lillian became ill shortly after her eighth birthday. Her illness began with a fever on Thursday, Aug. 20, before progressing to double vision and other serious symptoms two days later. Her parents, Daniel and Rebecca Smart, brought her to Willis-Knighton South Hospital in Shreveport, where doctors initially diagnosed bacterial meningitis following a spinal tap. Further testing revealed that she had a Naegleria fowleri infection.

By Sunday, Lillian's parents said her condition had become too severe for her to recover. "Everyone did everything they could to keep her here. We are heartbroken and honestly do not know what to do next. How do we put one foot in front of the other without our girl?" they wrote in a social media post.

The family asked for prayers as they cope with Lillian's death and support her brothers and other loved ones. Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry and Sen. John Kennedy also expressed condolences, with Kennedy remembering Lillian as a "sweet little girl."

Naegleria fowleri is a microscopic amoeba typically found in warm freshwater such as lakes, rivers, and canals. It does not live in saltwater and generally cannot infect people through properly maintained and chlorinated swimming pools. The infection is extremely rare but is almost always fatal.

Symptoms commonly begin with severe headache, fever, nausea, and vomiting before progressing to more serious complications such as a stiff neck, seizures, and coma. Symptoms generally appear about five days after exposure but can develop anywhere from one to 12 days afterward.