KARACHI: As it was feared with the advent of the current sizzling summer, the ‘brain-eating’ amoeba, technically called Naegleria fowleri, claimed its first victim of the year in Sindh, officials in the provincial health ministry said on Tuesday.

Officials said a 40-year-old man, identified as Pervez Ahmed, died of the deadly disease at a hospital.

“The first death of the year due to Naegleria fowleri was a 40-year-old man of Gulistan-i-Jauhar,” said a senior official in the health ministry.

The victim was admitted in the intensive care unit of a private hospital where he died on Sunday. The cause of death was confirmed on Tuesday, said the official.

Last year, six people died of the lethal amoeba.

Published in Dawn, May 9th, 2018