国际英语新闻:Saudi Arabia registers new cases, deaths of MERS virus infection

RIYADH, May 11 (Xinhua) -- Saudi Arabia registered on Sunday three new cases and three more deaths of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) coronavirus infection, adding the total number of cases to 483, including 142 deaths.

The new cases are three women from Riyadh, of whom two are receiving treatment at hospital and the third is in home isolation, the Health Ministry said in a statement. The three new deaths include two females from Riyadh and a male from Jeddah.

To tackle the spreading of the virus, acting Health Minister Adel bin Mohammed Faqih on Sunday met a delegation from The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention under the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

"We are working with different international organizations to control and tackle the spreading of the virus in Saudi Arabia and the other parts of the world through exchange of information, research and experiences," the minister said in a statement, adding that the safety of the public is the top priority and the country would take all measures to protect its people.

MERS is considered a deadlier but less transmissible cousin of the SARS virus which erupted in Asia in 2003 and infected thousands of people.

The coronavirus was first discovered in mid-2012 in an old man with acute pneumonia and renal failure. It has spread from Gulf countries to North Africa, Southeast Asia and Europe, killing more than a hundred people and infecting hundreds of others.

Saudi Arabia has retained the highest number of MERS cases in the world, registering new cases and deaths almost on a daily basis.