RIYADH (AFP) - Saudi Arabia dismissed its health minister on Monday just days after he visited a hospital at the centre of growing concerns about the kingdom's handling of the MERS virus.

Abdullah al-Rabiah was named adviser to King Abdullah and replaced by Labour Minister Adel Fakieh, a royal decree carried by the official Saudi Press Agency said.

Saudi Arabia has registered by far the largest number of infections with Middle East Respiratory Syndrome since the disease's discovery in September 2012.