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Local Teen Apparently Contracted Rare Infection At North Carolina Facility

usnwc.org

The Westerville teen who died last weekend from a rare virus she contracted while swimming apparently became infected at the U.S. National Whitewater Center in Charlotte, North Carolina. The center has released a statement saying its man-made, closed-loop system of concrete channels and rapids uses only filtered and treated municipal water and water from two on-site wells.  The center says it adds chlorine to the system, which filters 12 million gallons a day, and treats the water with enough ultraviolet radiation to "inactiviate" the type of amoeba responsible for the death. The center said the radiation has an effectiveness of 99.99 percent. 18-year-old Lauren Seitz died Sunday after earlier visiting the center with a church group. She contracted primary amoebic meningoencephalitis, which is typically found in warm bodies of freshwater such as rivers and lakes and enters the human body through the nose.

Jim has been with WCBE since 1996. Before that he worked as a reporter at another Columbus radio station, and for three newspapers in Southwest Florida.