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-yearold 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.