RIYADH, Saudi Arabia, (AP) – Saudi Arabia’s Health Ministry says a Saudi citizen has died of swine flu, the first death in the kingdom and only the second in the Middle East.

A statement Monday said the 30-year-old man was admitted to a hospital on Wednesday complaining of high fever, coughing, breathing difficulty and obesity.

The man was treated with antibiotics and the flu medication Tamiflu but his condition deteriorated and he died early Saturday. It did not say why the announcement of his death was held for 48 hours.

Saudi Arabia has 232 reported cases of the flu, the most in the Arab world.

Arab health ministers Wednesday banned children, the elderly and those with chronic illnesses from attending this year’s pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia fearing it would aid the spread of the disease.