Saudi Arabia reports 3 more deaths from MERS

Saudi Arabia has reported that three more people have died from a new respiratory virus related to SARS, bringing the total number of deaths globally to 30.

The Ministry of Health said Thursday the three deceased, ranging in age from 24 to 60, had chronic diseases, including kidney failure. It says they were hospitalized a month ago.

The Ministry also announced a new case of the respiratory virus called MERS, bringing to 38 the number of those infected in the kingdom. It identified the afflicted person only as a 61-year-old from the Al-Ahsa region where the outbreak in a health care facility started in April.

A case reported Wednesday and five reported Tuesday may be linked to a hospital, said the country's deputy minister of health, Dr. Ziad Memish. He would not reveal the name of the town or the hospital.

Memish suggested there may have been some person-to-person spread among the cases. Three of these patients have died.

"They're from the same town and from the same hospital," Memish said in an interview with The Canadian Press, adding the investigation into how the people became infected is ongoing.

"We're still working on it. But none of the patients from yesterday had any relation to al-Ahsa," he said, referring to the large outbreak linked to the al Moosa hospital in the town of al-Hofuf that began in April but only came to light in early May.

"They actually live outside of al-Ahsa and they have no family contact in al-Ahsa. And we think that there was a community introduction and there was transmission from that community introduction."

Two of the patients shared a hospital room, he said, adding that it's not clear at this point whether the other patients are linked, and if they are, how.

"These patients came in and out a few times to the facility," Memish said. "So trying to find out who are the RTs [respiratory technicians] who looked after them, who are the nurses, who are the physicians, who took blood from them, is it the same personit's a very difficult task."

"But the team is on it 24-7."

The World Health Organization said the new germ, a respiratory infection, was first seen in the Middle East and sickened more than 49 people worldwide.