Saudi Arabia reports death from new virus

The number of people who have died from a new respiratory virus in Saudi Arabia has risen to 56 after the death of a 73-year-old man.

Saudi Arabia says one more person has died from a new respiratory virus related to SARS, bringing to 56 the number of deaths in the kingdom at the centre of the outbreak.

The Health Ministry said Saturday that a 73-year-old, chronically ill man had died in a Riyadh hospital.

He was among 136 people who have been infected with the virus in Saudi Arabia since September last year.

The ministry also says three new cases have been detected, including two foreign women working in the kingdom's health care services and a Saudi man.

The new virus is related to SARS, or severe acute respiratory syndrome, which killed some 800 people in a global outbreak in 2003. It belongs to a family of viruses that most often causes the common cold.


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Source: AAP



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