Visiting friends in Florida recently, they warned our kids not to go in the landscaped pond in their development (it had a beach). I asked if snakes were a danger. They laughed, not in the least: the real problem was flesh-eating amoebae.

You mean brain eating amoebas right?

There is brain eating amoebas and flesh eating bacteria. You pick.

You might be right. Maybe I got splashed...

Ugh I thought that was amusing, at least until I read yesterday about a 10 year old girl in Texas who died from exactly this.

The amoeba is called Naegleria Fowleri and nagelerisis is a terrifying way to die: even with treatment there's a 95% mortality rate.

The amoebas enter the nose when they traverse the olfactory nerve via something called the cribriform plate to enter the brain. Once there, they mistake neurons for bacteria, which they consume.

Lots of funky stuff. Don’t let your dogs swim in those ponds either.