A firefighter in California died in a San Diego hospital Monday from an illness that stems from a brain-eating amoeba he contracted late last year, the Press Enterprise reported.

Matt Moore, a 17-year veteran of the Murieta fire department died Monday at the age 43 years. He was hospitalized on and off since November, his disease baffling doctors who could not figure what was causing his sickness.

In January, doctors, using a brain biopsy, pinpointed the illness to parasitic meningoencephalitis, an extremely rare infection caused by the brain-eating amoeba Balamuthia mandrillaris.

Infection by this amoeba is usually fatal. The amoeba cluster around blood vessels in the brain and destroy surrounding cells.

The disease was first identified in 1990 after a mandrill baboon at the San Diego Wild Animal Park was infected. Doctors are not sure how the parasite infects humans, but an infectious-disease expert said it appears that only people with weakened immune systems are at risk.

More than 100 cases have been reported. A 2004 study by the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta showed the amoeba is particularly prevalent in California, where at least 11 cases have been reported.

A memorial service for Moore is planned for 11 a.m. March 20 at Calvary Chapel Murrieta, 24225 Monroe Ave.