NOTE: This story is from September 2016; it's being shared on Facebook in 2017.

Health officials are monitoring the possible source of a rare brain-eating amoeba that killed a New York teen after she swam in a stream that flowed from Pennsylvania to Maryland.

The New York Department of Health confirmed that 19-year-old Kerry Stoutenburgh died from the Naegleria fowleri amoeba -- also known as the "brain-eating amoeba." Officials said she contracted the disease while swimming on vacation in Cecil County, Md. in August.

A GoFund Me page has been created to help the family.

Officials from the Pennsylvania Department of Health did not immediately respond to a request for information Thursday morning.

The brain-eating amoeba is commonly found in warm freshwater -- such as lakes, rivers and hot springs -- and soil, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Naegleria fowleri typically infects people when contaminated water enters the body through the nose.

Unfortunately, health officials say little can be done to prevent infection of the brain-eating amoeba.

Cecil County Health Department's spokesman Gregg Bortz said the CDC does not recommend testing untreated freshwater for Naegleria fowleri because the amoeba is naturally occurring. Also because there is no established relationship between detection or concentration of Naegleria fowleri and risk of infection.

Bortz said there are no rapid, standardized testing methods to detect and quantitate the amoeba in water.

"It's a low risk, but it is a present risk," Bortz said. "Our primary message has been for people to exercise precautions in any fresh water."

Once the amoeba enters the nose, it travels to the brain where it causes amebic meningoencephalitis -- which almost always causes death. Bortz said they are cautioning people to wear nose plugs when swimming in freshwater.

Bortz said he has not received any additional information from the CDC about additional safety steps going forward.

Officials said Stoutenburgh contracted the disease while swimming on vacation in Cecil County, Maryland in August.

Stoutenburgh's uncle told the Cecil Whig newspaper that Stoutenburgh swam in two areas -- Octoraro Creek and North East Creek -- while vacationing.

Octoraro Creek, a tributary of the Susquehanna River, forms the border between Lancaster and Chester Counties. It winds through Cecil County, Maryland before joining with the Susquehanna River.

The North East Creek, which lies entirely in Maryland, flows into the Chesapeake Bay.

Those that that are infected with Naegleria fowleri experience headaches, fever, nausea and vomiting before going through seizures, an altered mental status, hallucinations and coma. After symptoms start, amebic meningoencephalitis causes death within about 5 days.

Bortz said posting signs is unlikely to be an effective way to prevent infections because Naegleria fowleri occurrence is common, even though infections are rare.

Posting signs, he said, might create a misconception that bodies of water without signs are Naegleria fowleri-free.

An 18-year-old Ohio woman died in June after she was infected with the amoeba while white water rafting at an artificial water rapids course in Charlotte, N.C. The CDC said that the chlorination and filtration systems at the U.S. National Whitewater Center were inadequate to kill the brain-eating organism.

Only 138 people are known to have been infected with the amoeba since 1962, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Of those that have been infected, only a handful have survived.

The infection cannot be spread from person to person.

Facts About Naegleria fowleri and Primary Amebic Meningoencephalitis by PennLive on Scribd