The Sindh Health Department confirmed on Saturday that the brain-eating amoeba, Naegleria fowleri, has claimed another life in Karachi, raising the death toll for 2025 to five.
In a statement, the health department said a 29-year-old man from Karachi’s district central died from a Naegleria infection.
The patient began showing symptoms on September 7 but was only admitted to a private hospital on Thursday when his condition worsened.
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 from Naegleria in Karachi this year.
Earlier, a 17-year-old patient from North Karachi tested positive on June 27 and died on June 28, according to a provincial health department spokesperson.
Pakistan reported its first fatality from Naegleria in March when a 36-year-old woman from Gulshan-e-Iqbal succumbed to the brain-eating amoeba.
It is worth noting 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 typically 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 killed 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 the start of summer each year and to use chlorine tablets to routinely purify their water.
