KARACHI: The ‘brain-eating’ amoeba, a waterborne organism, has claimed another life here.
Executive District Officer for health Imdadullah Siddiqui said 40-year-old Tahir Ansari died at the Aga Khan University Hospital on Saturday.
His is the third death caused by the waterborne infection in the city this year.
Mr Ansari, a resident of Lines Area, had no swimming history, but Mr Siddiqui said he had visited a graveyard early this week where he washed his hands and face with water from a reservoir. The victim was married and had three sons and a daughter.
Naegleria fowleri, an amoeba found in rivers, lakes, springs, drinking water networks and poorly chlorinated swimming pools, emerged in May last year and killed 10 people till October, official records show.
According to a recent report, up to 41 per cent of the water supplied to the city does not have sufficient amounts of chlorine. Of the 1,445 samples tested for chlorine, 44 had no chlorine at all, 546 had less than standard quantities of the disinfectant, and 855 were found satisfactorily chlorinated.
Primary amoebic meningoencephalitis is defined in medical literature as a rare but typically fatal infection caused by Naegleria fowleri.