More MERS Virus Cases Documented in Saudi Arabia: Death Toll Rising

Middle Eastern countries are having a difficult time in recent weeks dealing with the spread of rare diseases. Saudi Arabia is continuously reporting new cases and deaths due to the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS).

The Saudi Arabian Ministry of Health reported three new MERS deaths on Monday, raising the total to 115 in the country since 2012. The three victims - a 45-year-old man and two middle-aged women - contracted the virus in the city of Jiddah, and three others as well in Riyadh (the capital) and Medina. This brings the total confirmed cases to 414.

Although the disease is not spreading at alarming rates as it once was a few weeks ago, Saudi Arabia still cannot seem to tame the virus completely. In fact, the latest news on MERS featured an Indiana man contracting the disease after returning from Saudi Arabia. Reports mentioned that he will be released from the hospital soon because doctors want to ensure he's completely healthy.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have taken preventive measures to the extreme and also put 50 hospital workers in home isolation because they were in contact with the infected man. They are also currently working to identify those who traveled on the same airplanes and bus as the man in order to have the people tested to make sure they're not infected, either.

But the utmost concern still lies in Saudi Arabia. Millions of people are expected to visit the country for Ramadan in July, and millions more will be participating in Hajj come October. If the transmission and prevalence of MERS continues, the disease could spread in an unprecedented fashion.

Many believed that the unusual spread was caused by a mutation of the virus, but scientists already sequenced three genomes from samples in April and found no such evidence. Health experts are urging anyone who has come into contact with a MERS patient to get tested immediately. Some people don't get sick from the virus, but still have the ability to spread it to another human. Also, if a patient with no symptoms gets tested and it comes back positive, they will be able to take proper measures in treating the virus.