Young boy dies of rare disease, may have been contracted while swimming

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UPDATED — A nine-year-old boy, who had been a student at Jacobson Elementary in Rush City last year, has died due to a rare disease called ameboic meningoencephalitis,  a lethal and incurable brain infection caused by a microorganism found in the water.

Officials believe he contracted it while swimming at Lily Lake in Stillwater last week.

The lake was closed to swimming by officials Tuesday afternoon of this week.

The boy, Jack Erenberg, quickly became ill as the family traveled up north later in the week and got progressively worse. It has been reported that assistant state epidemiologist Rich Danila said all the cases he has known of this rare disease resulted in death. See more in ECM Post Review story by Editor MaryHelen Swanson.