COLUMBIA, S.C. (WIS) - Community members continue to rally around the family of 12-year-old Jaysen Carr. Carr — a student at Hand Middle School — died after being infected with an amoeba he contracted at Lake Murray two weeks ago.

The Naegleria fowleri is a free-living amoeba, which is a one-celled organism that thrives in warm fresh water like lakes, rivers and hot springs, the CDC states. It is usually called the brain-eating amoeba because it can infect and destroy brain tissue. Infections from the amoeba are rare but nearly always fatal.

A person has died after being infected with a brain-eating amoeba in South Carolina, officials announced. A patient at Prisma Health Children's Hospital Midlands in South Carolina died after being infected with Naegleria fowleri,

While Vibrio vulnificus thrives in brackish water, freshwater presents a different but equally rare threat: Naegleria fowleri, a brain-eating amoeba.

"Greater than 97% of cases that have occurred since the 1960's have been fatal. There have only been four cases in the U.S. who have lived -- and those who live have variable outcomes," says Dr. Burch.