HMPV virus – latest: US monitoring China cases as Bali steps up checks on flights from the country
Authorities in Bali have asked nationals from China and Malaysia to fill out a health pass three days before their arrivals in the island nation
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Your support makes all the difference.The US is monitoring cases of human metapneumovirus (HMPV) infections after a reported surge in cases across China.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said it was currently looking at reports of increasing cases in the US but played down any concern.
It comes as Indonesia has started monitoring flights from China and Malaysia amid concern over rising HMPV infections across the region.
Those travelling to Bali will have to fill out a form three days before their arrival to the island providing a record of passengers’ health, according to local health authorities.
Singapore said on Wednesday it had witnessed a spike in HMPV infections at the end of 2024 but added that it was consistent with expectations due to increased social gatherings and holiday travel.
Dr Sanjaya Senanayake, infectious disease expert associate professor of medicine at The Australian National University, said it was “vital” for China to share information in a “timely manner”.
The virus, which causes flu or cold-like symptoms, has seen cases spiking across northern Chinese provinces this winter, particularly among children.
China’s state-run media points finger at Western outlets for ‘exaggerating’ HMPV outbreak
China’s state-run newspaper The Global Times has accused Western media of “exaggerating” reports of a surge in HMPV infections in China.
The outlet said that foreign media claimed that HMPV infections have overwhelmed hospitals in China and drew comparisons to Covid-19.
In response, Chinese authorities have said that they remain transparent in reporting infectious diseases. The World Health Organisation has said that it is in contact with Chinese health officials and has received no reports of unusual HMPV outbreak patterns.
“Over the past two years, awareness of HMPV infections in China has grown despite the virus being first identified more than 20 years ago, and has been circulating among people for as long as 60 years. The increase of awareness is primarily due to the improvement in our country’s respiratory pathogen detection capabilities and the increased public attention toward respiratory infectious diseases,” Li Tongzeng, the chief physician of the infection department at Beijing You’an Hospital, told The Global Times.
More information needed, experts say
Dr Andrew Catchpole, chief scientific officer at London-based research organisation hVIVO, said “more information on the specific strain” of the virus was needed, but that experts did not consider it to have pandemic potential.
“HMPV is usually detected in the winter periods but it does seem that the rates of serious infection may be higher in China than what we would expect in a normal year,” he told the Evening Standard.
“We need more information on the specific strain that is circulating to start to understand if this is the usual circulating strains or if the virus causing high infection rates in China has some differences.”
No unusual reports of HMPV outbreak patterns reported in China, WHO says
The World Health Organisation has said that it is in contact with Chinese health officials and has received no reports of unusual HMPV outbreak patterns.
“WHO continues to monitor respiratory illnesses at global, regional and country levels through collaborative surveillance systems, and provides updates as needed,’‘ it said.
Chinese authorities have reported that the healthcare system is functioning normally, with no emergency declarations or responses initiated.
India, Malaysia, and Kazakhstan reported cases of HMPV in late December and Bali started monitoring flights from China and Malaysia in the wake of the rise in HMPV infections. However, authorities maintain that the virus has been around for decades and that there is nothing unusual about the infections.
Experts advise practising good sneezing and coughing etiquette, and hand washing to mitigate transmission.
US monitoring HMPV cases
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are currently “monitoring” reports of increasing cases of human metapneumovirus in China’s northern provinces, according to reports.
“CDC is aware of reported increases of HMPV in China and is in regular contact with international partners and monitoring reports of increased disease,” a spokesperson for the CDC said.
“These reports are not currently a cause for concern in the U.S.,” the spokesperson added.
Covid-19 skewed our perception of routine respiratory illnesses, expert says
Amesh Adalja, an infectious-diseases physician and senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security, told the Washington Post that Covid-19 distorted our perceptions of infectious-disease threats, especially when images of sick people emerge from China.
“There’s just this tendency post-Covid to treat every infectious-disease anything as an emergency when it’s not. You wouldn’t probably be calling me in 2018 about this.”
Experts say that human metapneumovirus (HMPV) behaves like RSV, with varying severity year to year, and there is nothing particularly worrying about HMPV.
Pictured: A patient waits in a hospital ward amid an outbreak of HMPV across China
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