Saudi health minister replaced amid virus outbreak

Saudi Arabia’s health minister, Abdullah al-Rabeeah, has been replaced by Labour minister Adel Fakieh as the kingdom struggles to contain the surge of new cases of the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS).

According to Russia Today, Monarch’s decree said that Rabeeah has been made an adviser to the Royal Court.

Last week, the kingdom confirmed an additional 49 cases, mostly in the port city of Jeddah. Overall, Saudi Arabia has acknowledged 244 cases of MERS since 2012, of which 79 have died.

MERS is a viral infection that causes pneumonia-like symptoms. So far, about 30 percent of people with known infections have died.