The Saudi health minister has been sacked without
explanation, as the Mers coronavirus death toll there climbed to 81.
Abdullah al-Rabiah was dismissed just days after visiting
hospitals in Jeddah to calm a public hit by panic over the spread of the
respiratory virus.
Saudi has registered the largest number of infections of
Mers (Middle East Respiratory Syndrome).
The ministry said it had registered 261 cases of infection
across the kingdom.
The World Health Organization (WHO) says it has been
informed of 243 laboratory-confirmed cases worldwide, including 93 deaths since
the virus was first discovered in September 2012.
The WHO, which has been monitoring the global situation,
says there is currently no reason to impose any travel restrictions because of
the virus.
Public Health England said the recent rise in the number of
Mers infections in Saudi could be the result of a number of factors: a change
in the virus itself, a consequence of more active surveillance or some sort of,
as yet unexplained, seasonality.