Resident Evil 4 much? The Las Plagas virus from Capcom's zombie franchise might be a thing out of fiction, but it could have been based off of fact. And the fact is, our world is also home to a nasty amoeba that eats brains.

They're called Naegleria fowleri: microscopic amoebas that reside in warm lakes and other stagnant bodies of water. They make their way up a person's nose, latch on to the brain where they start feeding on brain cells, and eventually cause death within two weeks.

Two days ago, the Naegleria has claimed its latest victim. A boy from Arizona spent a day with his family in Lake Havasu to celebrate their father's birthday. They frolicked on the beach, splashed around, the works. A week later he started complaining about a headache that wouldn't go away. He was taken to the hospital and was diagnosed with what they thought was meningitis.

It wasn't only until later after the boy had passed away did they realize the real culprit. Doctors have speculated that the kid got infected by the Naegleria a few days before his death, coinciding with his time down at Lake Havasu.

It is indeed a sad story. On top of that though is the alarm that this news has brought to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). They've noticed a considerable spike in the number of deaths from the Naegleria. This year alone, there have been six victims already in North America. They speculate that, though these cases are rare, it could eventually rise in the future.

Michael Beach of the CDC said that "This is a heat-loving amoeba. As water temperatures go up, it does better. In future decades, as temperatures rise, we'd expect to see more cases." He also warns the public to not panic about it. Nose clips can reduce the chances of the Naegleria from getting into your head. To begin with, the amoeba has to be sprayed way up your nose for it to latch on. Which means, don't be too boisterous when playing in warm water and try to be more careful when you're doing somersaults.

Some lab tests have been able to stop the amoeba though, but Beach remains that there is little chance of survival once a person gets infected.