A 12-year-old boy died from a brain-eating amoeba two weeks after a holiday weekend on a popular South Carolina lake. The brain-eating amoeba enters the body when water is forced up the nose, like when someone jumps or dives in the water.

The family of a 12-year-old South Carolina boy who died after contracting a rare infection associated with Naegleria fowleri will speak to the media Tuesday afternoon.

Most people who come into contact with Naegleria fowleri never get sick. The amoeba can only infect a person when contaminated water goes up the nose, often during swimming or diving. It then travels to the brain, where it destroys brain tissue.