The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is currently “monitoring” increased reports of human metapneumovirus (HMPV) in China.
In a statement to Newsweek, a CDC spokesperson said, “CDC is aware of reported increases of HMPV in China and is in regular contact with international partners and monitoring reports of increased disease. These reports are not currently a cause for concern in the U.S.”
According to Newsweek, HMPV is a virus similar to the flu and causes symptoms that can include a fever, cough, shortness of breath, and nasal congestion. The outlet noted that HMPV cases typically peak in the winter and spring months.
Newsweek reported that the CDC confirmed the agency’s National Respiratory and Enteric Virus Surveillance System (NREVSS) is monitoring HMPV activity in the United States and that the CDC would quickly detect and report any potential increase in U.S. HMPV cases.
“Human metapneumovirus (HMPV) activity in the United States is now returning to patterns similar to trends observed during pre-pandemic years,” the CDC spokesperson said. “For the last week of December 2024, 1.4 percent of diagnostic test reports for HMPV submitted to NREVSS were positive.”
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According to Fox News, despite reports of increased HMPV cases in China, Chinese officials have indicated that the increased number of HMPV cases is typical during this time of the year and is actually less severe than in other years. In a statement released on Friday, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said, “Respiratory infections tend to peak during the winter season in the Northern Hemisphere.”
Dr. Eileen Schneider, a medical epidemiologist who works for the CDC’s Division of Viral Diseases, previously documented that HMPV is “associated with approximately 20,000 hospitalizations among children younger than 5 years.” Schneider noted that the virus can lead to concerns for “older adults and immunocompromised patients.”
According to Schneider, HMPV symptoms are “often clinically indistinguishable from infection with other common respiratory viruses, such as flu and respiratory syncytial virus.”
Addressing elevated concerns regarding the HMPV outbreak in China, Dr. Robert H. Hopkins, Jr., the medical director of the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases, told Newsweek, “It is not necessarily any more dangerous than RSV, COVID-19, or influenza, but it is a concern, as we do not currently have a vaccine or antiviral medications that are effective in treating HMPV.”
