(KTVT) – Days after swimming in the Brazos River and contracting a brain-eating amoeba, a Central Texas girl is battling for her life. It started when Lily Mae Avant, 10, came down with a headache and fever, according to a Facebook post from her cousin. But her condition quickly deteriorated. After first receiving treatment nearby, Avant was transferred to Cook Children’s Hospital in Fort Worth where she remained

Thursday evening. The hospital determined she was suffering from a devastating infection of the brain called primary amebic meningoencephalitis (PAM). The disease of the central nervous system is caused by Naegleria fowleri, a free-living ameba typically found in freshwater bodies such as ponds, lakes and rivers. READ MORE