Officials have confirmed a portion of a Louisiana water system has tested positive for a brain-eating amoeba.

According to the Louisiana Department of Health, part of the south Bossier Parish water system test positive for Naegleria fowleri, which is typically found in warm freshwater.

Naegleria fowleri is an amoeba that causes a rare and often fatal infection of the brain.

It is commonly found in warm freshwater and soil in the southern states. 

Officials say usually people are infected when contaminated water enters through their nose, not by ingesting it. 

According to the CDC, 4 out of every 143 infected between 1962 and 2017 survived. 

The affected water system will undergo a 6-day “chlorine burn” in which a higher level of chlorine will be used to clean it, according to KTBS. 

Last month, a 29-year-old New Jersey man died after contracting Naegleria fowleri after surfing in Waco, Texas. 

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