AUTHORITIES have detected the first case of a SARS-like virus in Egypt.

State news agency MENA says a 27-year-old civil engineer was diagnosed on Saturday after returning from Saudi Arabia, where the Middle East respiratory syndrome, or MERS, has been centred.

It says the man was quarantined upon his arrival at Cairo airport on Friday and transported to a nearby hospital.

Saudi Arabia's Health Ministry said late on Friday five more people in the kingdom had died from MERS.

The ministry says 92 people have died and 313 have contracted the virus in Saudi since September 2012.

MERS can cause symptoms such as fever, breathing problems, pneumonia and kidney failure.

King Abdullah fired his health minister on Monday as officials struggle to alleviate public concerns amid a spike in infections.