( CNN ) -- Infectious disease experts say they would n't be surprised if a new virus that 's sickened 12 people and killed six shows up in the United States . The first cases of the novel coronavirus , which is in the same family as SARS and the common cold , were found to have occurred in an Amman , Jordan , hospital in April , according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention . People have also become infected in Qatar and Saudi Arabia . On Saturday , the World Health Organization announced a new case in the United Kingdom -- the third case confirmed this month , all in the same family . One of those three people has died , Britain 's Health Protection Agency said Tuesday . `` This patient had an underlying condition that may have made them more susceptible to respiratory infections , '' the agency said in a statement . The person died Sunday in Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham 's critical care unit , the hospital said . `` The patient was already an outpatient at QEHB , undergoing treatment for a long-term , complex unrelated health condition , '' the hospital said . `` The patient was immuno-compromised and is believed to have contracted the virus from a relative who is being treated for the condition in a Manchester hospital . '' The first patient , who had traveled recently to Saudi Arabia and Pakistan , was being treated , the Health Protection Agency said . The third case had `` a mild illness '' and has recovered . `` I would n't be shocked if it came here , '' said Dr. William Schaffner , an infectious disease specialist at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville . Dr. Susan Gerber , a medical epidemiologist in the CDC 's Division of Viral Diseases , agreed . `` It could happen , '' she said . `` That 's why the CDC is working closely with the World Health Organization and other international partners . '' The CDC has advised doctors to ask patients with certain symptoms about their recent travels . Symptoms of infection with the novel coronavirus include an acute respiratory infection , fever and a cough . The new virus , which the WHO is calling NCoV , or novel coronavirus , has a range of effects , including potential pneumonia and kidney failure as seen in the United Kingdom . `` Once it gets you , it 's a very serious infection , '' Schaffner said . Fortunately , he added , the virus is `` very difficult to acquire . '' New SARS-like virus posts medical mystery . So far most of the people who 've caught the virus have been in the Middle East . It 's suspected that , like SARS , the virus originated in animals . A study published in November found that genetically , the new coronavirus was most closely related to viruses found in bats . In all but two cases , the virus has not spread from person to person . And in most cases , patients have not infected family members . Health care workers taking care of infected patients have also not become ill. `` There is no evidence of sustained human-to-human transmission where you see a chain of many cases going person to person to person , '' Gerber said . `` People should n't freak out , '' she added . `` There 's no evidence that this virus is easily spread , say , across a room . '' However , human-to-human transmission is not impossible , as seen in the United Kingdom cases . Two family members in the United Kingdom contracted the virus without traveling to the Mideast but lived with the third , who traveled to Saudi Arabia and Pakistan , according to the WHO . `` In these cases , human-to-human transmission does seem likely , '' Gerber said .
2009 : A sixth person has died from a new SARS - like virus . Most of those affected by the virus have been in the Middle East . Person - to - person transmission of the virus appears difficult , experts say .