The brain-eating amoeba, Naegleria fowleri, claimed another life in Karachi, raising the 2025 death toll to five, the Sindh Health Department confirmed on Saturday.
In a statement, the Sindh health department said that a 29-year-old man, a resident of Karachi’s district central, died with Naegleria.
The symptoms started appearing in the patient on September 7, but he was admitted into the private hospital on Thursday when his condition deteriorated.
The health department added that investigations revealed the patient had not engaged in any “water-related activities,” with his only exposure being the routine use of tap water for drinking and bathing.
According to statistics shared by the health department, five people have died due to Naegleria in Karachi.
Earlier, a 17-year-old patient, a resident of North Karachi, tested positive on June 27 and died on June 28, said a spokesperson of the provincial health department.
Pakistan reported its first fatality from Naegleria in March as a 36-year-old woman from Gulshan-e-Iqbal succumbed to the brain-eating amoeba.
It is pertinent to mention here that Pakistan reported five deaths from Naegleria in 2024, with four cases in Karachi and one in Hyderabad.
What is Naegleria and what can we do?
Doctors and health experts say Naegleria usually enters the brain and attacks the nervous system when infected water is ingested through the nasal cavity while bathing, swimming or performing ablution.
The deadly amoeba survives on bacteria in warm waters and can only be decimated through proper chlorination or boiling of water.
Health experts have reiterated the importance of adequate chlorination in water sources to prevent Naegleria fowleri infections.
The amoeba, which thrives in warm, untreated water, can enter the body through the nose and cause fatal brain infections.
Health experts advise people to get their underground and overhead water tanks cleaned before summer starts every year and use chlorine tablets to routinely purify the water.