KARACHI: Nine people, including six children, have died of gastroenteritis after consuming contaminated water and food in a village on the outskirts of Karachi, forcing the government to declare a health emergency in the affected areas and the nearby Malir district.

Faiz Muhammad Burro Goth, where the deaths occurred, is located near Bahria Town Karachi and falls within the territorial jurisdiction of Thana Bola Khan, district Jamshoro.

Sources said the deaths were reported over the past few days.

Confirming the deaths, provincial health minister Dr Azra Fazal Pechuho, in a video clip, explained that preliminary findings suggested the outbreak occurred when several people, who had gathered for a funeral over a week ago, consumed contaminated water and food and subsequently fell ill.

Victims, all residents of a goth near district Malir, died after consuming contaminated water, food; govt declares emergency in affected areas

“A medical camp has been functioning in the area for a week, while 24-hour emergency services are now available at three local hospitals. Mobile hospital vans are operational, providing basic laboratory and medical services to patients,” she said.

The minister added that district health officers (DHOs) were monitoring the situation and that the Rescue 1122 ambulance service had been put on alert.

In his remarks, Malir DHO Imdad Channa said that while the outbreak had occurred in Jamshoro, nearby hospitals had also been put on high alert.

“Government hospitals in Jamshoro, Dumba Goth [Gadap] and Murad Memon Goth (Malir) are on high alert. The situation is now under control,” he said, adding that people in the affected village used water from an open underground tank for drinking purposes.

The sources said that water samples had been collected from the area and sent for analysis.

According to experts, gastroenteritis is an intestinal infection that includes signs and symptoms such as watery diarrhoea, stomach cramps, nausea or vomiting and sometimes fever. The most common way to develop gastroenteritis, often called stomach flu, is through contact with an infected person or by consuming contaminated food or water.

In 2023, a woman died of gastroenteritis in a Malir village, and hundreds of people across the city fell ill due to the infection. Experts stated that the situation appeared to have developed mainly due to the consumption of contaminated food and water, coupled with the unhygienic conditions that emerged soon after animal slaughter was performed across the city during Eid al-Azha.

The sources said that the gravity of the situation could be gauged from the fact that over 4,200 patients had visited the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre, Dr Ruth Pfau Civil Hospital Karachi and The Indus Hospital in less than a week, and that a village in district Malir was experiencing an outbreak of gastroenteritis.

Published in Dawn, October 28th, 2025