MERS death toll hits 81 in Saudi Arabia
Iran Press TV
Wed Apr 23, 2014 1:3PM GMT
Two Saudis have died from the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (MERS-CoV), bringing the death toll from the killer infection to 81, Saudi Health Ministry says.
In a statement on Tuesday, the ministry said a 73-year-old Saudi died in the city of Riyadh while another, aged 54, succumbed to the disease in the port city of Jeddah.
The deaths came hours after Saudi Health Minister Abdullah al-Rabeeah was dismissed amid a worrying surge of new cases of MERS in the country.
Saudi authorities have come under fire for not having been transparent about the extent of the spread of the disease and the effectiveness of preventative measures in hospitals.
Saudi Arabia's Health Ministry said it has registered 261 cases of infection across the country since the first confirmed case of the virus in 2012.
According to the ministry, most of the new infections are in the port city of Jeddah, where 30 people have been infected since April 14, seven fatally.
The World Health Organization (WHO) also revealed on Saturday that two new cases were detected in the United Arab Emirates. The WHO added that the latest cases of the coronavirus came from the same Abu Dhabi hospital where a cluster of cases were reported a week ago.
MERS is a cousin of SARS. The virus, which causes coughing, fever and pneumonia, does not appear to be as contagious as SARS, which killed some 800 people in a 2003 epidemic.
In addition to Saudi Arabia, MERS has been reported in Qatar, the UAE, France, Germany, Italy, Tunisia and Britain.
KA/HMV/SS
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