MERS virus cases top 300 - Saudi
April 26 ALJAZEERA
Saudi Arabia said it had discovered 14 more cases of the potentially
deadly Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) in the kingdom, bringing
the total number to 313.
A health ministry statement on Friday said the new cases had been
reported in the capital Riyadh, the coastal city of Jeddah and in Mecca
in the past 24 hours. Authorities had also registered five more deaths
due to the virus, it said.The jump in cases is of particular concern
because Saudi Arabia will host pilgrims from around the world in July
during the Muslim month of Ramadan, as well as in early October when
millions of worshippers perform the annual Haj. In total, 92 people have
died of MERS in Saudi Arabia, the ministry said on its website.Saudi
Arabia has witnessed a jump in the rate of infection in recent weeks,
with many of the new cases recorded in Jeddah, the kingdom's
second-largest city.A large proportion of the people infected are
healthcare workers.
MERS emerged in the Middle East in 2012 and is from the same family
as the SARS virus, which killed around 800 people worldwide after first
appearing in China in 2002.MERS can cause coughing, fever and
pneumonia.Although the number of MERS infections worldwide is fairly
small, the more than 40 percent death rate among confirmed cases and the
spread of the virus beyond the Middle East is keeping scientists and
public health officials on alert.A spokesman for the World Health
Organisation in Geneva said on Friday it was “concerned” about the
rising MERS numbers in Saudi Arabia. “This just highlights the need to
learn more about the virus, about the transmission, and about the route
of infection,” he said.Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah replaced the health
minister last week after growing public concern about the spread of the
disease. |