MERS Claims 2 More Lives

Two people died of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) in the Kingdom on Thursday. At least five fresh cases were reported.

The Kingdom has witnessed 862 MERS cases thus far, which have led to a total of 368 deaths since September 2012. Currently, 15 patients with MERS are receiving treatment in various hospitals in the Kingdom. So far 479 people have completely recovered from the illness.

MERS/CoV no longer public health emergency, says WHO

The emergency committee (EC) of the World Health Organization (WHO) has unanimously concluded that the conditions for a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC) for the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (MERS-CoV) have not been met, according to a recent WHO announcement.

MERS deaths: Health staff to get SR500,000 payout

The Ministries of Health, Finance and Civil Service are streamlining procedures to organize compensation for families of health practitioners who died after contracting coronavirus. 

The compensation will total SR500,000, and patients are to be treated as martyrs in the line of duty.

MERS Claims 3 More Lives

The Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) coronavirus has killed three more people and infected four others over the past few days, the Ministry of Health announced Friday.

This comes in the wake of the World Health Organization (WHO) expressing rising concern over the spread of MERS in the Kingdom.

Saudi, Expat Infected with MERS

Two new cases of the deadly Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus ((MERS-CoV) were recorded by the Ministry of Health late Friday. 

The Command and Control Center (CCC) at the ministry reported that an expatriate worker in Riyadh and a Saudi national in Hofuf had contracted the infection, bringing the total number of confirmed MERS cases in the Kingdom to 845 since the disease was first detected in June 2012.

Ebola outbreak: Virus mutating, scientists warn

Scientists tracking the Ebola outbreak in Guinea say the virus has mutated.

Researchers at the Institut Pasteur in France, which first identified the outbreak last March, are investigating whether it could have become more contagious.

Ebola crisis: 'Too slow' WHO promises reforms

The World Health Organization (WHO) has set out plans for reform, admitting that it was too slow to respond to the deadly Ebola outbreak in West Africa.

At an emergency session in Geneva, director-general Margaret Chan said Ebola had taught the world and the WHO how they must act in the future.

Ebola Vaccine Sent to W. Africa for Testing

The first shipment of an experimental Ebola vaccine is being sent to Liberia for field testing, but experts say it may be difficult to determine how effective it is because the number of Ebola cases in West Africa is falling.

An airplane carrying about 300 initial doses of the vaccine made by GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) and the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) is expected to arrive in Liberia on Friday, and a clinical trial of the vaccine could begin within a few weeks, BBC News reported.

MERS claims the lives of two Saudis; three more infected

The Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (MERS-CoV) has killed two more people, bringing the death toll in the country to 363 since the virus was detected in 2012, the Health Ministry announced Thursday.

The deceased are both Saudi men, a 67-year-old in Taif and a 76-year-old in Riyadh. Three other Saudis were infected, a 76-year-old man and two young males, all from Riyadh.

Ebola crisis: Experimental vaccine 'shipped to Liberia'

The first batch of an experimental vaccine against Ebola is on its way to Liberia.

The shipment will be the first potentially preventative medicine to reach one of the hardest hit countries.