Saudi Arabia fires health chief amid deadly virus surge

Saudi Arabia has replaced its health minister as the kingdom grapples with a surge of new cases of the incurable SARS-like Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS), a viral disease that kills 30 to 50 percent of the people it infects.

The Saudi government has reported 244 MERS cases – 79 of which have been fatal – since the disease was identified in 2012. Authorities announced 49 confirmed new infections over the past week, mostly in the port city of Jeddah, a 25 percent increase in the total number of confirmed cases since the outbreak began. Seven people in Jeddah have already died.

Officials discovered 10 new cases, one of them fatal so far, in the capital of Riyadh. There were also new cases confirmed in Najran Province and the city of Medina.

In removing Health Minister Abdullah al-Rabia on Monday, Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah said the health chief’s duties will be taken over by Labor Minister Adel Fakieh, who will keep his current post, state television reported. The television outlet cited the king's royal decree in its report, but gave no reason for the switch.

Rabia has been made an adviser to the Royal Court, the decree said.

MERS has no vaccine or anti-viral treatment, but international and Saudi health authorities say the disease, which originated in camels, does not transmit easily between people and may simply die out.

However, health experts also warn the deadly virus could mutate. It is possible that it could become more contagious, with some concerned about recent cases of health workers in Saudi Arabia and the UAE getting sick after treating patients suffering from MERS. 

Symptoms of the disease appear as a severe cough or cold, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). 

Saudi authorities have at times struggled to counter swirling rumors on social media that they have not been transparent about how far the disease has spread and the effectiveness of preventative measures taken in hospitals.

Last week, the cabinet told Saudi news outlets to report only those cases officially confirmed by Health Ministry lab tests, according to Reuters. 

On Sunday, Rabia said he thought the sudden surge of new cases in Jeddah might have a seasonal cause, given there was also an uptick in infections about a year ago, but he added that he had "no idea" why that might be.

Rabia said there was no scientific evidence yet to justify ordering travel restrictions to stop the spread of the virus.

Saudi Arabia is expected to receive a surge of pilgrims in July during the annual Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, followed by millions more in early October for the Hajj pilgrimage.

Another cluster of MERS cases has been detected in the UAE, and a Malaysian who was recently in the Gulf has been confirmed as infected, according to Saudi officials. Yemen has also reported its first case.

UAE state news agency WAM said late on Saturday that it had recorded 12 new cases of coronavirus infections, uncovered during "routine checks" on people who had come into contact with infected individuals.

As of March 27, the World Health Organization said there had been 206 laboratory-confirmed MERS cases worldwide, a number likely to go up. 

Al Jazeera and Reuters