The government of Saudi Arabia has requested the Bangladesh government to send only those Hajj pilgrims who are capable of resisting MERS virus.
Saudi Foreign Ministry has issued a letter to Bangladesh Religious Affairs Ministry via the Foreign Ministry on Tuesday.
Religious Affairs Ministry Senior Information Officer Anwar Hossain has confirmed the information on Wednesday.
The letter requested the Bangladeshi authorities to take preventive measures for elderly people as they are prone to the virus, said Anwar.
The letter read: “So far 345 people have been detected with the deadly MERS virus in the country [Saudi Arabia]. Among them 111 people, including two Bangladeshis have died.”
This year, nearly 92,000 Bangladeshis are traveling to Saudi Arabia to perform the holy Hajj under private management. Some 10,000 people are going under government management.
On June 15, Bangladesh recorded its first case of the often-fatal MERS corona virus.
MERS belongs to a family of viruses that includes both the common cold and SARS, which killed some 800 people in a global outbreak in 2003.
It can cause symptoms that include fever, breathing problems, pneumonia and kidney failure.
There is no cure or vaccine for the virus.
