RIYADH – A woman in her 80s with the MERS virus has died in the Eastern Province, raising to 52 the death toll from the infection in Saudi Arabia, the Health Ministry announced on Monday. It said the woman, aged 83, also suffered from chronic diseases. Saudi authorities have recorded 124 cases of the infection, which has now claimed 52 lives, since it first appeared in September 2012 in the Kingdom. But no cases were announced during Haj earlier this month. MERS is considered a deadlier but less-transmissible cousin of the SARS virus that erupted in Asia in 2003 and infected 8,273 people, nine percent of whom died, and sowed economic chaos. Based on the current situation and available information, the World Health Organization (WHO) urged all member-states to continue their surveillance for Severe Acute Respiratory Infections (SARI) and carefully review any unusual patterns. WHO stressed that recent travelers returning from the Middle East who develop SARI should be tested for MERS-CoV, and specimens from patients' lower respiratory tracts should be obtained for diagnosis wherever possible. The agency reminded healthcare facilities of the importance of systematic implementation of infection prevention and control, and urged them to decrease the risk of transmission of MERS-CoV virus to others. – Agencies
