Murrieta firefighter
dies from brain-eating amoeba
MURRIETA,
Calif. (AP) — A veteran Murrieta firefighter has died
after being infected with a rare brain-eating amoeba that usually lives in
soil.
The
department says in a statement that Capt. Matt Moore died Monday at UC San
Diego Medical Center Hillcrest from complications of meningoencephalitis.
The 43-year-old father of three had been in a coma.
A funeral
cortege returned his body to Murrieta Wednesday.
Moore
first fell ill in November. A biopsy showed in January that his brain had been
invaded by the parasite Balamuthia mandrillaris.
More than 100 cases have been reported. A
2004 study by the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta showed the amoeba is
particularly prevalent in California, where at least 11 cases have been
reported.