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Too little is being done to control the spread of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome, which has infected 50 people in Saudi Arabia so far this month, the World Health Organization has warned, the BBC reported.

The rising number of cases in health-care facilities indicates current infection-control measures are not being implemented, it says.

There have been at least 1,026 recorded infections and 376 deaths since 2012.

Cases have been confirmed in the UK, Jordan, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, France, Germany, Italy, Tunisia, Egypt, and the US - usually after travel to Saudi Arabia.

WHO assistant director general Dr Keiji Fukuda said: "When health workers are infected at work, this puts other health-care workers at risk but also can be a risk to all other patients who seek care for other health conditions.

"Understanding where the breach in these measures is occurring and taking the steps needed to fully implement infection prevention and control measures can put an end to these nosocomial infections."

Dr Berhe Tekolathe, from the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization, said it was working to establish the root cause of the infection, which researchers believe crosses over to humans from animals - possibly camels.

So far, person-to-person transmission has remained limited to clusters.

The WHO warned people to avoid raw camel milk and urine and to ensure meat was properly cooked.