MERS Warning

The Russian Federal Service for Surveillance on Consumer Rights Protection and Human Wellbeing recently warned against the outbreak of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (coronavirus) in Saudi Arabia.

According to official figures released by World Health Organization, 12 new cases of a coronavirus (MERS-CoV) were registered in Saudi Arabia from August 13 to August 30, including two lethal cases, IRNA reported.

Last week, five Muslims who returned to southern Thailand from hajj pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia were suspected of having been infected with the virus. It remains to be seen how the MERS might influence those people within a 14-day period.

So far, there has been no report of MERS infection among Iranian hajj pilgrims. An estimated 86,500 Iranians performed the annual ritual this year that ended on August 25.