The people of Karachi live under the shadow of multiple risks, some of which are preventable by the authorities and departments concerned and some that are a little hard for the authorities to even detect and handle.
The biggest risks which are not only deadly but still harder to detect are the various diseases, some of whom are either driven by weather conditions or creep unseen into our bodies without warning. There is for example the infection by the brain-eating amoeba, which only recently claimed three lives in Karachi.
There are no prior warnings, and this amoeba silently slips through your nose into your brain while you are washing your face and habitually pour water into your nose. You only detect it when it is too late as the three recent victims found out at the cost of their lives. This, however, is not the only deadly diseases stalking our roads and alleyways; there are others that you have never heard of and about whom nobody ever mentions or discusses.
Have you heard of Leptospirosis? I bet you have not, but this is another disease that stalks the streets of Karachi. This is a bacteria in rat urine and, as we all know, that rats are in abundance in Karachi, and specially in multi-storeyed buildings where they can be commonly seen, specially in places where residents dump their garbage. It is transmitted to humans through overflowing gutter water and water accumulated during monsoon.
Symptoms include high fever, muscle pain and jaundice. There is really no cure for this, but it can be prevented by wearing shoes while navigating stagnant water and, of course, if possible controlling the population of rodents in your neighbourhood. That is easier said than done. I mean controlling the population of rodents. You will be surprised to know that rodents are so much in abundance that the Karachi airport a few years ago had to appoint an officer for rat control.
The reason for this was an attempt to improve the cleanliness standards and provide healthier environment for the passengers. More shocking were the statistics coming out of the Parliament in Islamabad.
According to a press report, there are more than fifty thousand rodents roaming the building and are frequently seen at the parliament lodges, kitchen and other parts of this August house.
Another disease that you have probably not heard of or is ever discussed amongst family and friends is Melioidosis. This is a bacteria found in wet soil and stagnant water. In Karachi, the breeding grounds for this disease are construction sites, which are also now mushrooming all over the city.
For prevention, it requires safety gear for the workers; specially, if one has diabetes as that is a high-risk case in this situation.
How many construction workers are given safety gear, we all know.
You will be surprised to know that there are many more hidden diseases mostly transmitted through stagnant water. With exotic names that afflict the unwary residents of Karachi. Ever heard of Cryptosporidiosis? This is a parasite resistant to normal chlorination and causes prolonged stomach diseases like diarrhoea.
All it takes to save yourself from this parasite is to boil your drinking water for one minute but than for the people of Karachi boiling water for a minute requires resources that might not be available all the time and with the limited time available you sometime have to decide between boiling water or preparing breakfast for children ready to go to school.
Even going to the beach is not safe as far as these exotic diseases are concerned. Common in public beaches and parks is another exotic disease, Cutaneous larva migrans. This is larva from pet waste, which is common at public beaches and parks and can be avoided by wearing footwear and use mats on sand.
So many diseases that you have never heard of but you are surrounded by them and there is little education for the public at large to insulate themselves and their kith and kin from the ravages of these ailments. In most cases a little precaution can save countless lives .Will someone take the first step?
Copyright Business Recorder, 2026
The writer is a well-known columnist