Eight new MERS cases reported in Saudi Arabia

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia, May 13 (UPI) -- Eight new cases of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) have been reported in Saudi Arabia.

Saudi Arabia's Ministry of Health announced on Monday that five people infected with MERS had died.

The eight new recorded cases involve men and women from Al Madinah, Jeddah, and Riyadh.

The MERS coronavirus causes acute respiratory illness. Its symptoms include fever, cough and shortness of breath. The majority of its victims do not survive, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control.

It is regarded as a deadlier but less-easily transmitted form of the SARS virus, which began in Asia in 2003 and infected 8,273 people, 744 of whom died.