Manama: Saudi Arabia confirmed 13 new cases of the deadly Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (Mers) virus, raising the number of detected cases to 49 in six days.
The virus that kills approximately one-third of the cases and still has no cure, has so far infected 244 people, killing 75 in the Kingdom, the Health Ministry said on Sunday.
Mers is a Sars-like disease first discovered in Saudi Arabia two years ago.
The ministry said that three of the 13 infected people, one foreigner and two Saudi nationals, died.
The expatriate, 49, lived in the Red Sea city of Jeddah while the Saudi citizens, both 68, lived in Najran and in Madinah. The two nationals were suffering from several illnesses.
Seven of the infected lived in Jeddah, four in the capital Riyadh and one in Madinah and another in Najran. Five were foreigners living in the Saudi kingdom.
Health Minister Abdullah Al Rabia said the authorities were doing their best to contain the virus and stressed that the ministry was ready for the pilgrimage season when around three million people from all over the globe congregate in Makkah for at least four days to perform the rituals of Haj.
The minister said that no case was recorded at any of the schools and that the number of medical staff infected has been reduced.
The rate of deaths went down from 60 per cent when the virus was first noticed to 35 per cent last week and 32 per cent today, the minister added at a press conference.
However, he said that he expected more cases to be reported in the future.
He said that more than 20,000 people were examined over the last few weeks, “which demonstrates the huge work undertaken by the ministry.”
He added that 22 experts from the World Health Organisation (WHO) and specialised centres in Europe, US and Asia are expected to arrive in Saudi Arabia this week and hold a meeting with experts from the Gulf Cooperation Council, local news site Sabq reported on Monday.
Five international companies have also been asked to cooperate with the health ministry to help confront the formidable challenges.
