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Summary Saudi health minister has said that virus related to SARS pose no threat to pilgrims.
Saudi Arabias health minister says a new respiratory virus related to SARS that has infected two people does not pose a threat to the more than 1 million Muslims set to embark on the annual Hajj pilgrimage in the kingdom.Abdullah al-Rabeeah said Monday the virus has so far been contained.The germ is a coronavirus, from a family of viruses that cause the common cold as well as SARS, the severe acute respiratory syndrome that killed some 800 people, mostly in Asia, in a 2003 epidemic.Global health officials suspect two victims from the Middle East may have caught it from animals.The World Health Organization issued a global alert asking doctors to be on guard for any potential cases of the new virus, which also causes kidney failure.
