MERS Death Toll in Saudi Rises to 126

The death toll from MERS in Saudi Arabia has risen to 126 since the respiratory virus first hit the nation in 2012, the health ministry revealed.

Two men, aged 47 and 60, died in the western city of Medina on Wednesday, an 84-year-old man died in Mecca and a fourth died in the Red Sea port of Jeddah.

Swimmers Take a Dip in 'Global Warming' Pool!
Indian financial capital Mumbai now boasts an eye-catching swimming pool, which has been built to raise awareness about the threat of sea level rises due to global warming.

All three cities are closely associated with the annual Muslim hajj pilgrimage, with commercial capital Jeddah being the main point of entry for pilgrims from overseas.

The fifth person to die was a woman, who succumbed in the capital Riyadh, the ministry's website reported.

It added that the total number of infections from Middle East Respiratory Syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) in the Gulf nation was now 463.

Consumers Warned of Tainted Raw Milk Sold by Butler County Dairy
During routine inspection, a preliminary test showed the presence of Listeria bacteria in some of the raw milk samples taken from Fisher's Dairy.

MERS cases have also been reported in the United Arab Emirates, Jordan, Egypt, Lebanon and even the United States, with most involving people who had travelled to Saudi Arabia or worked there, often as medical staff.

The great majority of deaths from the virus have been in Saudi Arabia, however.

Advertisements

FDA Urgently Warns Consumers About Health Risks of Potentially Contaminated Olives
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is alerting consumers to possible serious health risks from eating olives that may be contaminated.

MERS is considered a deadlier but less-transmissible cousin of the SARS virus that erupted in Asia in 2003 and infected 8,273 people, nine percent of whom died.

There are no vaccines or antiviral treatments for MERS, a disease with a mortality rate of more than 40 percent that experts are still struggling to understand.