Yes, a new coronavirus, MERS-CoV (CoV is for “coronavirus”), was announced by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in 2013—one that seemed to have started around early 2012. The new virus was different from any other known human coronavirus, including the one that caused Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS). Considered a worldwide disease—thought to have originated from the Arabian Peninsula or neighboring countries (to date, no cases have been reported in the United States)—it is known to pass from human to human, causing severe respiratory illness.