Saudi health officials are stepping up efforts to fight the Middle East respiratory symptom coronavirus , or MERS-CoV , after a recent spike in cases . Saudi Arabia confirmed more than 50 cases of the virus in the past week , at least seven of which were fatal . The Saudi Health Ministry says 13 new cases were reported Monday alone , bringing the total to 257 . It is not clear why there was a sudden increase , said Dr. Abdullah Al-Asiri , assistant undersecretary at the Saudi Ministry of Health and a member of the Scientific Committee of Infectious Diseases . `` We have faced an increase in the number of cases around the same time last year at the end of winter , '' the Saudi Press Agency quotes him as saying . Should I be concerned ? Last week , reports on social media said health care workers had refused to treat MERS-CoV patients . The government has since issued a statement saying ambulance services that refused would be suspended from work and investigated . Saudi officials have also called on the World Health Organization and a group of medical experts to meet at the end of this month to discuss the status of the virus . In a prepared statement , Ministry of Health spokesman Khalid Marghalani said a drug company would be arriving in Saudi Arabia to discuss the production of a vaccine to fight the virus . MERS-CoV was discovered in September 2012 . The World Health Organization reported Sunday that 250 cases have been confirmed globally with 93 deaths worldwide . A new cluster of the virus was reported in the United Arab Emirates this week , as were the first cases in Greece and Malaysia . MERS-CoV comes from the same group of viruses as the common cold and attacks the respiratory system , the U.S.-based Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says . Symptoms , which include fever , cough and shortness of breath , can lead to pneumonia and kidney failure . Although many of the cases have occurred on the Arabian Peninsula , people have died of the infection elsewhere , including in European countries and Tunisia in North Africa . However , all of the people involved contracted the disease in the Middle East before being diagnosed . Limited human-to-human transmission of the disease has also occurred in other countries . Health officials do not know exactly how the virus spreads , and they stress hygiene , such as diligent hand-washing , to limit its spread . The WHO has not recommended any MERS-related travel restrictions but says member countries should monitor any unusual respiratory infection patterns in travelers to the Arabian Peninsula . After the spike in cases , Dr. Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al-Rabiah stepped down as minister of health , state media reported Monday . Researchers claim progress in fight against MERS . 5 things to know about new coronavirus .
Minister of health steps down . It is not clear why there was a sudden outbreak , a Ministry official said . The first cases of the virus were reported in Greece and Malaysia this day . A new case was also reported in the United Arab Emirates .