MERS virus has caused the death of a foreigner in Saudi Arabia, the country's health ministry announced Saturday.
The disease has also recently inflicted eight other people, including five health workers, I4U reported.
The MERS (Middle East Respiratory Syndrome) virus, an ailment of the respiratory system, was first detected in camels. It has not been clarified how the virus got transferred to human beings.
While scientists remain puzzled about the origin of MERS, a February study suggested camels to have played a significant role in spreading it. Although the virus is related to Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, it is considered to be more deadly.
A high temperature, a hacking coughing and wheezing breath are some of the symptoms that show up during the course of the infection, according to I4U.
The nationality of the 45-year-old man who died in the city of Jeddah has not been disclosed, the AFP reported. His death brings Saudi Arabia's MERS-related fatality count to 68, making it the country most affected by the virus.
Out of 212 confirmed cases reported to the World Health Organization, 88, or approximately 42 percent, of the patients have died, Time reported.
But the Saudi health minister warned against assuming that camels were behind the virus, insisting in remarks published by Makkah daily on Monday that "one should not jump to conclusions."
"Saudi hospitals did not deal with a single case of infection that involved contact with the animal," he said.
However, his ministry made contradictory statements on November 11, claiming the camel to be the first animal to have tested positive in "preliminary laboratory checks."
"The ministry said at the time that the camel was owned by a person diagnosed with the disease," 14U reported. "A recent study said the virus has been 'extraordinarily common' in camels for at least 20 years, and may have been passed directly from the animals to humans."
