8-year-old girl in Louisiana dies from brain-eating amoeba infection, family says

An 8-year-old girl has died after being infected by a brain-eating amoeba, according to her family. 

Lillian Smart, of Louisiana, died over the weekend after being diagnosed with an infection from Naegleria fowleri, an extremely rare brain-eating amoeba, CBS News reported. 

The amoeba thrives in freshwater bodies around the U.S. and can enter the body through the nose. The infection it produces is almost always fatal. There are, on average, fewer than 10 cases annually. 

The Louisiana Department of Health said last week that the state had experienced its first confirmed Naegleria fowleri infection since 2013. That case, which didn't identify Smart, is believed to have contracted the amoeba while swimming in Lake Claiborne in Northern Louisiana, the department said. 

"Last night Lillian ran from our arms to the arms of Jesus. The injuries to her brain were too severe for her little body to recover from. 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?" the girl's parents, Daniel and Rebecca Smart, said in a Facebook post on Sunday.