Karachi: The city witnessed its eight victim of the deadly 'brain-eating' amoeba as a 56-year-old man became the latest to succumb to Naegleria fowleri, DawnNews reported Thursday.

According to a private hospital, Talib Ali Khan was a resident of Federal B Area and was being treated for the past few days.

The Naegleria floweri germ, popularly known as brain eating amoeba, survives on bacteria in warm waters.It can be destroyed through boiling water or proper chlorination.

One of the main causes of the disease is swimming in which the amoeba eating bacteria which lives on the bacteria of warm waters enters the brain through nasal cavities and eats up its tissues.

Health officials claim that symptoms of Naegleria can be overlooked as it resembles symptoms of meningitis and tuberculosis. According to an expert, the initial symptoms after one to seven day after the infection are seizures, loss of balance and disorientation. Then the disease spreads rapidly and death occurs within 12 days.

According to the health expert effective drugs against this lethal amoeba still have not been found.

Last year 14 died due to this lethal amoeba and 29 deaths were recorded over the past three years.