Five New MERS Deaths Reported in Saudi

Five new deaths from MERS have been reported by the Saudi health authorities.

Meanwhile, four new infections by the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome have been registered, raising the total of cases to 495, the health ministry said.

Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) - Causes Symptoms Treatment Prevention
MERS, a newly discovered respiratory disease, was recently reported in the Arabian region. MERS is caused by a virus similar to that causing common cold and other respiratory illnesses.

The ministry added that six patients who had been infected by the SARS-like virus have been cured.

The new deaths occurred on Monday, with one patient dying in Riyadh and the remaining four in the commercial capital Jeddah.

MERS causes fever, coughing and shortness of breath, and can be lethal particularly among older people and those existing health problems.

Three More MERS Deaths in Saudi Arabia
Report of three new deaths from MERS coronavirus in Saudi Arabia takes the number of fatalities from the disease in the kingdom to 142, said health ministry on Sunday.

Some 30 percent of the several hundred people infected with it have died, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The virus first emerged in Saudi Arabia in 2012 and recent research has suggested it may originate in camels.

Saudi Arabia Reports Seven New MERS Deaths
As the World Health Organization prepared for an emergency meeting over worries about the spread of the disease, Saudi Arabia announced seven more deaths from the MERS coronavirus on Saturday.

The vast majority of cases have been in Saudi Arabia, but MERS has also been found in 16 other countries.

Most cases involved people who had travelled to Saudi Arabia.

Emergency Talks on Deadly MERS Virus to be Held by WHO on Tuesday
Amid concern over the rising number of cases in several countries, the World Health Organization is to hold an emergency meeting next week on the deadly MERS virus.

Source-AFP