RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AP) - Saudi Arabia says two more people have died from the Middle East respiratory syndrome (Mers), bringing the total number of deaths to at least 34 in the kingdom at the centre of the growing outbreak.

Since September, more than 40 people have died from the novel coronavirus related to Sars, most of them in Europe and the Middle East. That's according to local officials and the World Health Organisation.

The Saudi Health Ministry also said on Wednesday that three patients with the virus have recovered, in a further sign that treatments are working.

The new virus is related to Sars, which killed some 800 people in a global outbreak in 2003. It belongs to a family of viruses that most often causes the common cold.