Saudi Arabia Reports 18 New Cases of MERS Virus: 449 Infected Since 2012

The Middle East Respiratory Virus is not letting up in Saudi Arabia. Health officials identified 18 new cases late on Wednesday, including four deaths, bringing the infection total to 449 and the death total to 121 since September of 2012.

Saudi Arabia has been hit the hardest by the virus, which has witnessed an unprecedented increase in diagnoses over the past month. Last month, the government dismissed former health minister Abdullah al-Rabiah for poorly handling the onset of the MERS outbreak. Labor Minister Adel Fakieh has assumed his duties.

Fakieh and Saudi Arabia along with the World Health Organization are diligently working toward developing a vaccine for the virus to protect the country moving forward. Millions of Muslims are set to participate in Ramadan in July and Hajj in October, which is when officials believe the disease can spread in large numbers if it's not contained by then.

After being appointed to the new position, Fakieh promised the Saudi people transparency on the subject of the MERS virus as he plans to "provide the media and society with the information needed." That was when the documented infections were only at 244 and the death toll was at 79. Now, health officials are fearing a global threat to public health if the disease cannot be tamed, since it has spread to France, Italy, Jordan, Kuwait, Malaysia, Qatar, Tunisia, United Kingdom, United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Malaysia, Greece, Yemen, the Philippines, Indonesia, and the United States between 2012 and today.

Last month, both Chinese and American scientists discovered antibodies that possessed the ability to block cells from becoming infected with the MERS virus in an experimental lab dish. MERS-4 and MERS-27 were elaborated upon in the published version of the study entitled Potent Neutralization of MERS-COV by Human Neutralizing Monoclonal Antibodies to the Viral Spike Glycoprotein, in the journal of Translational Medicine.

Saudi Arabian and international health officials hope that they can develop a vaccine as soon as possible, and after meeting with drug manufacturers and medical experts, it could happen soon so the MERS scare can hopefully be subdued.