Death toll hits 81 with 17 more MERS cases reported
April 24, 2014: An outbreak of the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) appears
to be spreading quickly. In Saudi Arabia, 17 new cases have been confirmed, bringing
the total number of infections in that country to 261, 81 of whom have died. In Greece
and Jordan, the authorities have also reported MERS cases.
On Monday, King
Abdullah bin Abdulaziz fired Health Minister Abdullah Al Rabeeah amid growing concerns
about the kingdom's handling of the MERS virus. Acting Health Minister Adel Fakieh
on Tuesday toured one of the main hospitals in Jeddah. The spread of the virus among
medical staff in Jeddah triggered the temporary closure of a hospital emergency room
in the city earlier this month.
The now fired minister had visited the facility
last week in a bid to reassure the public but on Wednesday at least four doctors at
the King Fahd Hospital reportedly resigned after refusing to treat MERS patients.
At a press conference, al Rabeeah had said that no case had been recorded at any schools
and that the number of medical staff infected was down. He had also noted that rate
of deaths had dropped from 60 per cent to 32 per cent, with more than 20,000 people
undergoing examination over the past few weeks.
Twenty-two 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, the Health minister announced on Monday. Scientists
are still struggling to understand MERS and develop vaccines to treat it.