A bootlegger is a person who sells alcohol off hours. Orriginally a bootlegger was a person who smuggled contraband onto a ship in the long boots made of waxed leather used to keep dry when entering and exiting small boats used to get to and from a ship at anchor.
Amoebas are single-celled organisms. The so-called brain-eating amoeba is a species discovered in 1965 and formally named Naegleria fowleri. Although first identified in Australia, this amoeba is believed to have evolved in the United States. There are several species of naegleria, but only the N. fowleri species causes human disease. Like other amoebas, naegleria reproduce by cell division. When conditions are less than optimal, amoebas become inactive cysts. When conditions are favorable, the cysts turn into trophozoites -- their feeding form.
The organism responsible, Naegleria fowleri, dwells in warm freshwater lakes and rivers and usually targets children and young adults. Once in the brain it causes a swelling called primary meningoencephalitis. The infection is almost universally fatal: it kills more than 97 percent of its victims within days.