Hot spring lovers beware: Recent research shows these popular vacation spots can harbor a deadly species of amoeba that feasts on brains. Scientists at the U.S. Geological Survey and Montana State University studied recreational water samples taken from major national parks in the western United States. They identified widespread levels of Naegleria fowleri in three of these parks, including in areas where it had not previously been detected. Though N. fowleri only rarely causes human illness, cases could become more common as the climate continues to warm, the researchers warn. “These findings indicate that  N. fowleri  is present in thermally impacted areas across the western United States and underscore the use of enhanced monitoring, public awareness, and risk management strategies in thermally influenced recreational waters,” the researchers wrote in their paper, published this March in the journal ACS ES&T Water. The ubiquitous brain-eating amoeba N.…