Woman dies after infection by brain-eating amoeba from swimming in lake

After a spate of drownings in lakes and ocean hotspots across the country and a flurry of beach closures because of bacterial overgrowth, the world was just reminded of another water-borne danger: brain-eating amoebas.

A Georgia woman died from a Naegleria fowleri infection. Doctors say it's a rare infection that destroys brain tissue, causing brain swelling and usually death.

This is the sixth case of the infection in Georgia since 1962. But there have been a handful of other similar cases reported in the United States so far this year, according to NBC News . Higher-temperature water brought about by climate change is thought to be enhancing the risk.

Deaths from this infection have also been reported in Nevada and Florida this year.

The deadly amoeba lives in soil and warm freshwater lakes, rivers, ponds and hot springs. It is not found in salt water, properly treated drinking water or swimming pools.

Symptoms include severe headache, fever, nausea and vomiting and a stiff neck. They can progress to seizures and a coma that leads to death. Experts says symptoms progress rapidly and can cause death within five days.

Only four out of 154 people in the United States who have been treated for the infection survived, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

How to stay safe? The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends not jumping or diving into bodies of fresh water, holding your nose shut and keeping your head above water.

As for the victim in Georgia, no further information was released about her or how she got sick except that local health officials said in a press release she is thought to have been infected in a "freshwater lake or pond in Georgia."