RIYADH — The Saudi Health Ministry on Thursday announced the death of one of its citizens in the eastern region of Al-Ahsa after he contracted MERS, a SARS-like virus. The ministry website said the latest death, announced on Wednesday, brings to 25 the number of people who have died from the virus since September, adding that 40 people are suffering from the disease in the Kingdom. The strain was renamed the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus, or MERS, reflecting the fact that the bulk of the cases are in that region, mainly in Saudi Arabia. On May 31, the World Health Organization said that the global death toll from the virus has risen to 30. Previously known as nCoV-EMC novel coronavirus, the disease is a cousin of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), which sparked a world health scare in 2003 when it leapt from animals to humans in Asia and killed some 800 people. Like SARS, MERS appears to cause an infection deep in the lungs, with patients suffering from a temperature, coughing and difficulty breathing. However, it differs from SARS in that it also causes rapid kidney failure. Health officials have expressed concern about the high rate of fatalities compared to the number of cases, warning that the disease could spark a new global crisis if it acquires an ability to spread more easily. Meanwhile, the Philippine Embassy has created a link on its website directing visitors to the Saudi Ministry of Health portal on the MERS coronavirus which includes, among others, the following: Frequently asked questions; health staff regulations; media statements and news. Video links attached are the following: 1. Infection prevention and control precautions when caring for patients with probable or confirmed novel coronavirus infection (based on WHO interim guidance; 2. WHO Interim Guidance dated May 6; and 3. Procedures to be taken on the emergence of suspected or confirmed cases at health facilities. The Philippine Embassy has previously issued an advisory on the novel coronavirus, which is on its website and shared on its social media channel (Facebook and Twitter). The Embassy requests everyone, especially those working in the medical field, to visit the MOH website www.moh.gov.sa for regular updates and guidance on this disease.— Agencies
