International health officials are calling upon medical staff around the world to be on the alert for the spread of a deadly SARS-like virus that was first identified last year in the Middle East.
The Director-General of the United Nations' World Health Organization has said that a new SARS-like virus recently found in humans is "a threat to the entire world."
Saudi Arabia's Health Ministry has confirmed that five people have died, and two more patients are in critical condition with confirmed cases of the new SARS-like virus.