Family Of Ohio Teen Who Died From Brain-Eating Amoeba Files Lawsuit Against Park

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WWJ/AP) - The family of an Ohio woman who died after contracting a brain-eating amoeba has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against a North Carolina outdoor recreational park.

The family of 18-year-old Lauren Seitz filed the federal lawsuit Monday in Columbus, Ohio, against the U.S. National Whitewater Center in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Seitz died in June 2016 from meningoencephalitis, a disease caused by the amoeba Naegleria fowleri. The lawsuit says Seitz contracted the amoeba after she was thrown overboard while whitewater rafting at the park.

The lawsuit claims the center failed to properly chlorinate the water, failed to regulate the temperature of the water and failed to warn visitors of the possible danger.

The family is seeking punitive damages of more than $1 million.

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control, Naegleria fowleri is a heat-loving ameba that can cause primary amebic meningoencephalitis (PAM) — a rare but almost always fatal disease of the central nervous system that is often associated with diving and water sports.

In the U.S. there have been 143 PAM infections from 1962 through 2016 with only four survivors. Most were in southern states, with more than half occurring in Texas and Florida, although the CDC says infections have also recently occurred in northern states. [Get more information].

© Copyright 2017 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. The Associated Press contributed to this report.