Experimental drug beats brain-eating amoeba in Florida

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(CNN) -- Tests done on 12-year-old Zachary Reyna show no signs of activity from the brain-eating parasite he contracted earlier this month, according to his father. Doctors had given Zachary the same experimental anti-amoeba drug used to treat 12-year-old Kali Hardig recently in Arkansas. The Arkansas girl is only the third person in the last 50 years to survive this deadly parasite.

Extensive damage has been done to Zachary's brain, his father wrote Wednesday on a Facebook page dedicated to the Little League baseball player. Right now the family is looking for signs that his brain is still active.

"This is a small victory but we know the battle is not over," he wrote. "I feel like Zac was in a slump. ... All ball players go through them. We all do. As his Dad and Coach I do all I can to help him get out of it by giving him extra training and making adjustments to his swing. We all go through tough times and we need to find God and prayer to get through theses slumps of life."

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says it will make the experimental drug that helped fight Zachary's amoeba available to physicians who consult it. The drug was originally created for breast cancer treatment, but has since been found effective against free-living amoeba infections.

Zachary's family told CNN affiliate WBBH-TV that the boy was kneeboarding with friends in a water-filled ditch by his house in LaBelle, Florida, on August 3. He slept the entire next day.

Zachary is an active seventh-grader, his family said, so sleeping that much was unusual. His mother took him to the hospital immediately. He had brain surgery, and doctors diagnosed him with primary amoebic meningoencephalitis, according to WBBH. The family said he is currently in the intensive care unit at the Miami Children's Hospital.

After hearing of Zachary's case, the Florida Department of Health issued a warning for swimmers.

High water temperatures and low water levels provide the perfect breeding ground for this rare amoeba, called Naegleria fowleri, officials said. They warned the public to be wary when swimming, jumping or diving in freshwater with these conditions.

Kali Hardig was infected with the same parasite last month and was at Arkansas Children's Hospital in Little Rock.

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Experimental drug beats brain-eating amoeba in Florida