Another MERS Death Reported In Saudi Arabia As Toll Hits 42

Saudi Arabia has recorded another death from the SARS-like virus which was first discovered at the Arab kingdom. The death of the man reported to have died of the coronavirus MERS, now brings the kingdom’s death toll from the virus to 42, health authorities said Wednesday, adding that a new case was registered.

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The 38-year-old man who died in the eastern city of Hafr al-Baten had been “suffering from a severe lung infection,” the health ministry said on its website.

It said that an expat in the western city of Medina suffering from chronic kidney failure was under intensive care after he contracted the virus, which began in the kingdom’s Eastern Province.

Saudi Arabia is the country worst hit by MERS, which has killed 47 people globally.

The Saudi authorities say 84 people have been infected, representing the majority of those who contracted the virus worldwide.

Experts are struggling to understand MERS — Middle East Respiratory Syndrome — for which there is still no vaccine and which has an extremely high fatality rate of more than 51 percent. What can be regarded as progress so far was a recent report that the virus has been traced to bats. This scientists believe may go a long way in developing a vaccine for the disease.

MERS is considered a cousin of the SARS virus that erupted in Asia in 2003 and infected 8,273 people, nine percent of whom died, although studies have shown MERS is not as transmissible as SARS.

MERS, like SARS is believed to be zoonotic, and shares the SARS’s flu-like symptoms — but differs by also causing kidney failure.

As the MERS still lurks and new cases being reported, millions of pilgrims from across the globe are preparing for Hajj in October. Although authorities have allayed fears millions of pilgrims could be infected before leaving the holy land, some pilgrims are still skeptical about performing Hajj in 2013.

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