Saudi Arabia has sacked its deputy health minister and hiked the country’s death toll from Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) after uncovering more than 90 additional fatalities. The number of victims from the virus was raised to 282 from 190 following a review of health data. In all, an additional 113 confirmed cases of MERS had been found, bringing the total to 688. The uptick in the death toll and confirmed cases came as Saudi Arabia sacked Deputy Health Minister Ziad Memish, who has been criticized by some international scientists over his handling of the deadly MERS virus. Memish was a key figure in Saudi Arabia’s efforts to contain the spread of MERS, a virus that causes coughing, fever and can lead to fatal pneumonia. The virus was identified two years ago and cases have been found in other countries in the Middle East, Europe, Asia and the United […]