Karachi: A 17-year-old boy from North Karachi has died of primary amoebic meningoencephalitis (PAM), a deadly brain infection caused by Naegleria fowleri, in what is being described as the fourth such fatality in Karachi this year.
Officials confirmed on Saturday that the teenager, Syed Shah Ali Qadri, a resident of Sector 4, North Karachi, was admitted to the Aga Khan University Hospital (AKUH) earlier this week and died during treatment on Friday.
Laboratory reports confirmed the presence of Naegleria fowleri DNA in his cerebrospinal fluid, suggesting PAM as the cause of death.
Health authorities said the most alarming aspect of the case is that the teenager had no history of swimming or visiting recreational water bodies, which are commonly associated with Naegleria exposure.
Instead, they suspect he contracted the infection through non-chlorinated tap water supplied by the Karachi Water and Sewerage Corporation.
Officials pointed out that this indicates the dangerous amoeba may now be present in the city’s underground and overhead water storage tanks, which are often left uncleaned and untreated for months.
This is the second confirmed PAM death reported at AKUH in 2025, while at least two other deaths linked to the brain-eating amoeba were reported at Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre (JPMC) earlier this year.
Public health experts fear that more cases may be going unreported due to misdiagnosis or lack of awareness about the rare but fatal infection.
Naegleria fowleri is a free-living thermophilic amoeba found in warm freshwater sources, including lakes, rivers, poorly maintained swimming pools, and domestic water tanks.
When contaminated water enters the nose—usually during ablution, bathing, or nasal rinsing—the amoeba travels along the olfactory nerve to the brain, where it destroys brain tissue and causes acute inflammation.
The resulting disease, known as PAM, has a fatality rate exceeding 97 percent, with most patients dying within five to seven days of symptom onset.
Symptoms include sudden fever, headache, stiff neck, nausea, confusion, seizures, and coma.
The confirmed case from North Karachi has intensified concerns that Karachi’s aging and poorly maintained water infrastructure is now contributing to a silent but deadly health crisis.
Experts warn that the absence of routine chlorination in the city’s water supply is allowing Naegleria fowleri to thrive, particularly during the summer months when water temperatures rise.
They also highlight that many people in Karachi perform ablution with tap water before prayers without realizing the risk, especially if water is untreated or stored in unclean tanks.
The latest death has once again raised serious questions about the Karachi Water and Sewerage Corporation’s ability to ensure safe drinking
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