(CNN) An unidentified patient in Florida is being treated after being infected with a brain-eating amoeba last week, according to the Florida Department of Health. It is the fourth known case this year of infection by the parasite Naegleria fowleri. The amoeba enters the nose and then goes to the brain, where it destroys brain tissue, causing swelling and death. The anti-parasitic drug miltefosine is used off-label to treat infections by the brain-eating amoeba Naegleria fowleri. The only other known survivor in the United States, who was not treated with miltefosine, was a patient in California in 1978.

Source: CNN August 17, 2016 23:21 UTC