A boy has died after contracting a brain-eating amoeba from a water feature at a public park.
The child had been playing on the splash pad at Arlington's Don Misenhimer Park in Texas over the summer.
Splash pads are found in public parks and contain sprinklers, fountains, nozzles and other features that spray water.
Officials were initially unsure of who to blame for the tragedy, but now say the death may have been caused by human error.
They have "determined two possible sources for the child's exposure" to water contaminated with brain-eating amoeba - Naegleria fowleri, the Tarrant County Public Health Department said in a statement.
Water containing the pathogen came either from water at the family's home in Tarrant County, or from the Don Misenhimer Park splash pad in Arlington.
On September 5, public health officials were notified of a child's hospitalisation due to a rare infection.
Authorities then closed all parks with splash pads to carry out an investigation.
Six days after being admitted to hospital, the unidentified child died.
Officials have now admitted there were "gaps" in inspections carried out at the splash pads.
In some cases workers failed to carry out water quality inspections, local broadcaster KSAT reports.
"We have identified gaps in our daily inspection program. Those gaps resulted in us not meeting our maintenance standards at our splash pads," said Deputy City Manager Lemuel Randolph.
According to city records cited by NBCDFW, "Parks and Recreation employees did not consistently record, or in some cases did not conduct, water quality testing that is required prior to the facilities opening each day."
The boy died from a primary amebic meningoencephalitis infection.
Only 34 such cases have been recorded in the US between 2010 and 2019, according to the CDC.
Infection usually occurs when contaminated water enters the body through the nose, according to The Sun.
A similar case last month involved the tragic death of a seven-year-old after developing the same rare condition.
A seven-year-old has tragically died after being infected by a rare brain-eating amoeba.
David Pruitt, 7, was swimming in a lake in northern California when he was infected and went on to develop a condition known as primary amoebic meningoencephalitis.
His aunt Crystal Hayley announced in a GoFund me page that the boy had sadly passed after spending days on life support.
She wrote: "We are sad and broken hearted to report, that our sweet little David has passed on.
"He is now in the loving arms of our Lord and family members who have passed before him.
"We are rejoicing in knowing he is no longer in pain and in the best of care."
