Baku, Azerbaijan, May 30
By Umid Niayesh - Trend:
Iranian officials have confirmed that an Iranian woman died due to Middle East Respiratory Syndrome coronavirus (Mers) infection.
The 53-year old woman who died in Iran's south eastern city of Kerman on May 29, was under treatment for several days, head of Keram Medical University, Ali Akbar Haghdoust said, Iran's Tasnim news agency reported.
Earlier this week Iranian media outlets reported the country's first two cases of Mers, a deadly virus which first reported two years ago in Saudi Arabia.
Mers causes coughing, fever and sometimes fatal pneumonia, killing an estimated 30 percent of those who are infected.
The second confirmed person infected with Mers, the sister of the deceased woman, was discharged from a hospital, after a few days of treatment, head of the Centre for Disease Control of the Ministry of Health and Medical Education Mohammad Mehdi Gouya said.
Gouya also dismissed media reports about nine cases of Mers infection in the country.
Ali Akbar Haghdoust in his turn said that the reported 9 people were not infected with the virus, but were considered as "suspected to be infected with Mers". He added that the condition of these people will become evident after the results of conducted medical tests are made public.