Disease

100 More MERS Cases Found in Saudi Arabia

The number of people known to be infected with Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) just jumped by more than 100 after Saudi Arabian officials reexamined old medical records.

The new review identified 113 additional cases of MERS that had not been previously reported, bringing the total number of cases to 688, according to Reuters. Of these, 282 people, or 40 percent of those infected, died.

The news comes just a day after Saudi Arabian officials announced that the deputy health minister had been fired.

Cases of MERS first appeared in September 2012 in Saudi Arabia, and most cases have been in the Middle East. The virus that causes MERS belongs to the same family as the virus that causes SARS, known as coronaviruses.

Australia - Mysterious virus outbreak worries doctors

Dozens of Australian babies are infected by a virus that has no cure, doctors say.

Professor Theo Sloots says 46 babies are infected with parechovirus, which has spread to Queensland. At least 11 cases have been confirmed in the state since December.

"The outbreak is Australia-wide now and we believe there are at least four types of the virus," the Queensland Paediatric Infectious Diseases (QPID) laboratory director told reporters in Brisbane.

"We don't know what type is in Queensland compared to other states."

Parechovirus is a respiratory and intestinal disease that causes fever, irritability, rash and diarrhoea, but severe cases can develop into hepatitis or encephalitis.

QPID Associate Professor Michael Nissen said the virus infected mainly infants, but no one was sure where it came from, how often it occurred or how to fight it.

"This virus does not respond to common antibiotics," he said.