According to a statement from the WHO, a new virus may therefore be the cause of the outbreak. Other new coronaviruses have emerged in recent years, such as SARS in 2002.
(Jan 9): An alarming pneumonia outbreak in central China may be due to a previously unidentified coronavirus, according to the World Health Organization.
Initial information about the outbreak in Wuhan suggested that the culprit may be a virus from the coronavirus family, such as the one that causes Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, or SARS. But Chinese authorities subsequently said that laboratory tests ruled out SARS-CoV, MERS-CoV, influenza, avian influenza, adenovirus and other common respiratory pathogens.
