The Health Ministry said Sunday that a 9-year-old boy was admitted to the intensive care unit at Rambam Health Care Campus in Haifa with a rare infection from a “brain-eating” amoeba he contracted during a swim in the Sea of Galilee.

Tests showed that he was suffering from encephalitis induced by the amoeba, Naegleria fowleri, which is potentially fatal. The child has been identified as Baruch Neriya from Pardes Hannah, and his family has asked the public to remember him in their prayers.

According to an epidemiological investigation, the boy had swum in the Sea of Galilee, also known as the Kinneret, the previous week. Speaking to reporters, Dr. Danny Eytan, director of the pediatric critical care unit at Rambam, said that after the child was admitted, “a suspicion arose that it was an amoeba infection.” Although the boy is in “very serious condition,” he said, “we hope for the best.”

“We are exposed to this amoeba, and in most cases we don’t even know it,” Rotem Lapidot, director of the infectious diseases department at Rambam, told Ynet. “In very rare cases it manages to enter the brain and cause a serious infection.”

She said that common symptoms include a high temperature, headaches, vomiting, nausea, neurological symptoms, and changes in consciousness, adding that fever, changes in consciousness, and headaches require immediate medical attention.

Naegleria fowleri thrives in freshwater sources. It cannot be contracted by drinking water infested with it, nor is it contagious. It’s rare for swimmers to contract the amoeba, but since it can enter the brain through the nose, it’s recommended to take special care to avoid getting water in the nose, either by pinching your nose with your fingers or by wearing nose plugs. However, while rare, the infection of the central nervous system can be fatal. Fewer than 500 cases have been reported worldwide, three of them in Israel. Of those three, two patients died from the infection.

Last week, a teenager in California and an 8-year-old in Louisiana died from the infection.