spinal cord

Teen Dies from Rare Brain-Eating Amoeba

On June 19, an 18-year-old teen from Ohio died after contracting an infection caused by a rare brain-eating amoeba.
Local, state, and national officials are investigating the death, which occurred after the young woman, Lauren Seitz, visited the U.S. National Whitewater Center (USNWC) in Charlotte, North Carolina. Though Seitz lives in Ohio, she was visiting some southern states on a youth mission music tour with her church, Church of the Messiah United Methodist Church. The church is located in Westerville, Ohio.

Zika Virus is ‘Scarier than the CDC Initially Thought’

The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said this week that the Zika virus is “scarier than we initially thought.” The agency made a connection between Zika and microcephaly, a horrible birth defect that causes babies to be born with small heads and brains, in pregnant women. It also suspected that Zika causes Guillain-Barré, a nervous system disorder that can temporarily paralyze people and cause permanent brain damage.