(September 29, 2007)--It sounds like science fiction but it's true: A killer amoeba living in lakes enters the body through the nose and attacks the brain where it feeds until you die.

Even though encounters with the microscopic bug are extraordinarily rare, it's killed six boys and young men this year.

The Associated Press reports the spike in cases has health officials concerned.

Michael Beach is a specialist in recreational waterborne illnesses for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Beach says it's definitely something they need to track.

According to the CDC, the amoeba called Naegleria fowleri killed 23 people in the United States, from 1995 to 2004.

This year health officials noticed a spike with six cases; three in Florida, two in Texas and one in Arizona.

The two victims in Texas both swam in Lake LBJ.

The CDC knows of only several hundred cases worldwide since its discovery in Australia in the 1960s.

Naegleria fowleri, is found around the world in lake water and soil.

In rare cases, these microscopic bugs can enter a swimmer's nose, travel to the brain and devour the tissue.

There is no treatment for it.

Experts say the best preventative step is to avoid swimming in warm, standing water, but they say if you do, you should wear a nose clip.

Click Here For CDC Web Site

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