Boy dies after contracting amoeba from Mexicali canal

A 15-year-old boy from San Luis Rio Colorado Sonora died Monday after contracting an amoeba from a canal in Mexicali.

The canal is located in Ejido Plan de Ayala in the Mexicali Valley.

The Mexicali State Health Department ( MSHD ) confirmed the boy’s death on Wednesday saying that it is a critical situation, and that people should not get in the canals because the state cannot control water safety in them.

The Tibuna de San Luis reported the boy was taken to the hospital on Monday where he was diagnosed to have meningitis. The boy was said to have died on the same day. An epidemiologist state director says family members claimed the boy was in the canal August 12.

Amoeba is reported to be 99% lethal and MSHD reports the last time someone died in Mexicali from contracting amoeba was 10-years ago.