In its March 27, 2025, Morbidity and Mortality report, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have released the details about a toddler’s fatal illness that was probably contracted at an Arkansas splash pad.
Michael Alexander Pollock III, a 16-month-old boy, died on September 4, 2023, of a Naegleria fowleri infection — commonly known as the “brain eating ameba,” likely contracted at the Country Club of Little Rock splash pad — after spending a few days at the hospital. The boy’s case was reported by the Arkansas Department of Health at the time, but the CDC only recently released a new investigative report on the incident. According to the CDC’s report, the boy was hospitalized on September 1, 2023, following three days of fever, vomiting, lethargy, and altered mental status.
By September 3, pathology results showed numerous amebic organisms consistent with Naegleria fowleri, an ameba found in fresh water and soil.
Family members told doctors that the boy had played at a Pulaski County splash pad 2 to 3 days before the onset of symptoms.
But despite broad antibacterial treatment, the boy died after 4 days in the hospital. The presence of Naegleria fowleri was confirmed in the child’s cerebrospinal fluid after his death.
On the day prior to the boy’s death, the Arkansas Department of Health conducted a site investigation of the splash pad and found multiple violations, including a chlorinator that had been non-functional for about a month; chlorine was being hand fed daily with no operational records available for review. On September 13, tests confirmed the presence of the ameba (including the type that matched the deceased patient) in the splash pad tank.
“Together, the epidemiologic, laboratory, and environmental data suggest the splash pad was the most likely site of the patient’s exposure to N. fowleri,” the CDC concluded in its report. According to the CDC, this is the third incident of splash pad-associated Naegleria fowleri infection in the United States, and all three cases involved inadequately disinfected water.
Naegleria fowleri infections are rare and generally fatal. Among the 164 persons known to have been infected in the United States during 1962–2023, only four have survived, the CDC reports.
Infection can occur when water containing the N. fowleri ameba enters the body through the nose, with symptoms beginning from 1–12 days after exposure.
The illness progresses rapidly and leads to brain tissue destruction, brain swelling, and death, generally about 5 days after symptom onset.
Most N. fowleri infections have been associated with recreational exposure to fresh water (like lakes) during summer months.
However, from 2020–2021, two children in Texas died from Naegleria fowleri infections after playing at separate “splash pads” with inadequately disinfected water. One infection was actually contracted at a decorative fountain used as a splash pad by the public but not designed or managed as a splash pad. The other was a splash pad that used recirculated water and was not adequately monitored.
This is the third U.S. case of Naegleria infection associated with an inadequately disinfected splashpad.
Because of the splash pad’s lack of operational records and nonfunctional chlorinator, “it is possible that inadequate disinfection of the splash pad was a chronic problem,” the CDC stated in their report. “Inadequate disinfection, operation, and management over time could lead to growth of biofilm, which can supply nutrients for free-living ameba as well as protection from disinfectants.”
The CDC states that a medical diagnosis of Naegleria fowleri is difficult because symptoms mimic other types of infections, but an immediate diagnosis is critical because prompt treatment improves survival odds.
The CDC warns that “splash pads with inadequately disinfected water are an emerging exposure of concern for transmission of N. fowleri.”
