Riyadh (dpa) - Three more people have died in Saudi Arabia from a
SARS-like coronavirus, health authorities said Thursday, bringing to
21 the number of deaths from the disease in the kingdom.
The three victims of the Middle East respiratory syndrome
coronavirus (MERS-CoV) were all Saudis and died in the country's
Eastern Province, where most cases have been recorded, the Health
Ministry said.
They all suffered from kidney failure and other chronic illnesses,
it said.
The ministry announced that a new case of the illness had been
identified, also in the Eastern Province, in a Saudi man suffering
from renal failure.
The total number of MERS-CoV cases detected in the kingdom stands
at 38, according to the ministry.
The World Health Organization in a May 29 update said it had been
informed of "a total of 49 laboratory-confirmed cases of infection
with MERS-CoV, including 27 deaths."
Most cases occurred in Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Jordan and the United
Arab Emirates.
There were also cases in Britain, France, Germany and Tunisia
linked to travel to the Middle East, the WHO said.
Copyright 2013 dpa Deutsche Presse-Agentur GmbH