KARACHI: At least three Karachi residents have died from Naegleria fowleri, a brain-eating amoeba, in the first two weeks of July, a spokesperson of the health department in Pakistan’s southern Sindh province said on Saturday, adding two of these deaths occurred this week.
Naegleria fowleri is found in freshwater sources like lakes, ponds, rivers, hot springs and poorly managed swimming pools and pipes connected to tap water. The micro-organism enters the human body through the nose and causes a sudden infection of the brain called naegleriasis.
In most cases, the infection is fatal.
It’s a relatively new problem in Pakistan. The first case of Naegleria fowleri infection was reported in Karachi in 2008. Since then, over a hundred people have died from the infection, with all three Karachi cases this year occurring in July.
“The latest deaths have occurred on Thursday,” said Ali Nawaz Channa, spokesperson for Sindh health department, while speaking to Arab News. “A 35-year-old died in Aga Khan Hospital while a 22-year-old garment factory worker died in Jinnah Hospital.”
The family of the latter was quoted in a health department report as saying that he visited a nearby swimming pool with friends last Sunday. Subsequently, he developed a fever on Monday and was admitted to the hospital on Wednesday. His condition deteriorated on Thursday and was put on ventilator support but could not survive.
The other patient was admitted to Aga Khan Hospital and died after “ten days of battle with high grade fever,” the official report added. The family suspects the infection was contracted from performing ablution at a nearby mosque.
Prior to them, another patient, a resident of Qur’angi area of the city, died last Friday, according to the health department.
A 2021 Sindh health department study conducted in 50 Union Councils of Karachi found that 95 percent of the water samples were completely unfit for human consumption, which experts believe is one of the major reasons behind the spread of the brain-eating amoeba.
Primary amebic meningoencephalitis, the brain infection caused by the amoeba, has common symptoms including extreme headache, changes in taste, high fever, sensitivity to light, nausea and vomiting.
Symptoms occur within 24 hours of infection, but since they resemble meningitis, the infection is rarely diagnosed early enough through a blood test.
Medical experts warn late treatment is not always effective.
Provincial health department of Sindh reports three deaths caused by brain-eating amoeba in Karachi
https://arab.news/gdyqb
Provincial health department of Sindh reports three deaths caused by brain-eating amoeba in Karachi
- Naegleria fowleri is an emerging problem in Pakistan, where the first case was reported in 2008
- Health department says all three deaths in Karachi took place during the ongoing month of July
Pakistan’s deputy PM says country will not send forces to Gaza to disarm Hamas
- Ishaq Dar says Pakistan open to peacekeeping but Gaza’s internal security is Palestinian responsibility
- Pakistan’s top religious clerics from different schools have warned against sending forces to Palestine
ISLAMABAD: Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar said on Saturday Pakistan was willing to contribute to an international peacekeeping force in Gaza, though it would not deploy troops to disarm or de-weaponize Hamas.
The statement follows media reports saying Washington views Pakistan as a potentially significant contributor given its battle-hardened military and wants it to be part of International Stabilization Force (ISF), which is part of United States President Donald Trump’s 20-point framework for a Gaza peace plan.
The plan announced by Trump at the White House on September 29 was formally adopted at the Sharm El-Sheikh Peace Summit in October. Co-chaired by Trump and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, the summit brought together leaders from 27 countries to sign the “Trump Declaration for Enduring Peace and Prosperity.”
Deployment of troops from Muslim-majority countries during a transitional stabilization phase is a key part of the plan before the war-ravaged Palestinian territory moves toward reconstruction and a longer-term political settlement.
“If they say that we should go and start fighting, disarm Hamas, de-weaponize them, and go and destroy the tunnels that Hamas has built until now, that is not our job,” Dar, who is also the country’s foreign minister, told reporters during a year-end briefing in Islamabad.
He emphasized there was clarity between Pakistan’s civil and military leadership over the matter.
“We have a very complete understanding on this matter that we cannot do that kind of work,” he added.
The deputy prime minister said Pakistan had been using the term “peacekeeping” and had never used the phrase “peace enforcement” while discussing the force.
“I have been very clear: Pakistan will be happy to join if the mandate is not peace enforcement and disarming and de-weaponizing Hamas.”
The government’s stance comes amid growing domestic pressure over the issue.
On Monday, a group of Pakistan’s top religious leaders, chaired by prominent scholar Mufti Taqi Usmani, warned the government against yielding to what they described as international pressure to send forces to Gaza.
In a joint statement from Karachi, the clerics — representing Deobandi, Barelvi, Ahl-e-Hadees and Shia schools of thought — said that Washington wanted Muslim countries to send their forces to Gaza to disarm Hamas.
“Several Muslim governments have already refused this, and pressure is being increased on Pakistan,” it added.
Addressing such concerns, Dar said Pakistan would not land its forces in Palestine to “fight Muslims.”
Israel has repeatedly called for the disarmament of Hamas as a precondition for any long-term settlement, and the United Nations Security Council has also endorsed the ISF framework in November.
However, Dar maintained during the media briefing the internal security of Gaza was the Palestinian responsibility.
“The Palestinian Authority, their government, it is their job, it is the job of their law enforcement agency,” he said
The deputy prime minister also highlighted Pakistan’s involvement in the “Arab Islamic Group of Eight,” including Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Turkiye and Indonesia, which has been coordinating on the crisis.
He said the efforts of these countries had brought some peace to Palestine and reduced bloodshed.
“Our declared policy is that there should be an independent two-state solution,” he continued while calling for pre-1967 borders.
