A Texas surf center tested after the death of a surfer from a "cerebral amoeba"

WACO, Texas – Test results are expected later this week after a man has visited a landlocked surf complex in central Texas died of a rare "cerebral amoeba" Local health officials said Monday. Fabrizio Stabile, a 29-year-old surfer from New Jersey, died on Sept. 21 after falling ill with Naegleria fowleri, a rare but deadly amoeba that can cause a brain infection.

People are usually infected when contaminated water enters the body through the nose, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Symptoms usually begin about five days after infection, with death about five days later, according to the CDC.

Stabile's visit to Waco at BSR Cable Park's Surf Resort was not obvious, but the facility voluntarily closed on Friday.

"The CDCs have collected water samples and are currently conducting an investigation to find the source," said Kelly Craine, spokesperson for the Waco-McLennan County Public Health District, reported CBS's subsidiary. , KBTX-TV. "We hope to have results by the end of the week."

Craine said that a CDC team had conducted a series of tests on the site.

"They had samples, but they also looked at the actual operation of the park: from where does the water come from, how is the water filtered, how is the water treated," said Craine.

The CDC reports that amoeba is usually found in freshwater, such as lakes, rivers or hot springs. The federal agency says only four of the 143 people infected in the United States between 1962 and 2017 have survived.

CDC spokeswoman Brittany Behm said the agency did not know of any other patients related to the Texas facilities who had symptoms of the infection, which can start with headaches, fever and nausea, and worsen in cases of stiffness, imbalance and convulsions.

BSR Cable Park's owner, Stuart E. Parsons Jr., told the Waco Tribune-Herald that Stabile had been in the park's wave pool. He said that the establishment cooperated with the health authorities. He also stated that the "hearts and prayers" of his workers and he were with the family and friends of Stabile and the New Jersey surf community.