A 29-year-old man from Central Karachi has died after contracting Naegleria fowleri, the brain-eating amoeba, marking the city’s fifth fatality from the infection this year.

According to the Sindh Health Department, the patient developed symptoms on September 7 and was admitted to a private hospital on September 11, where he passed away the same day.

Laboratory tests confirmed the presence of Naegleria fowleri on September 12.

Health officials confirmed that the deceased had no history of swimming or other water-related activities.

Instead, he reportedly consumed and bathed using water directly from his home’s tap, raising concerns about contaminated domestic supplies.

Earlier in June, a 17-year-old from North Karachi, Syed Shah Ali Qadri, also died of the infection at Aga Khan University Hospital.

That case had similarly shown no link to swimming pools or recreational water.

Pakistan’s first Naegleria fatality this year was reported in March when a 36-year-old woman from Gulshan-e-Iqbal succumbed to the infection.

Pakistan had recorded five deaths from Naegleria in 2024, four in Karachi and one in Hyderabad.

Naegleria fowleri is a rare but almost always fatal parasite that enters the body through the nose, often via untreated or warm water, and attacks the brain.

Health authorities have once again urged Karachi residents to clean underground and overhead water tanks regularly, ensure chlorination, and boil water before use — particularly for nasal cleansing or ablution.