In China, reports of HMPV infections have indeed been rising in recent weeks in the more northerly regions. But so have reports of all the other respiratory pathogens including seasonal flu, rhinovirus and RSV.

Even as the world fixates on hMPV, a genuine pandemic threat is emerging in the form of H5N1 bird flu. The virus has jumped to cows and spread across the country through dairy herds, poultry farms and even zoos, infecting millions of animals and dozens of people, the vast majority of them farm workers.

Five years on from the first news of COVID, recent reports of an obscure respiratory virus in China may understandably raise concerns.

HMPV is attracting a lot of interest because it is not a household name, but it was discovered in 2001, WHO spokeswoman Margaret Harris said in Geneva.

The recent surge in Human Metapneumovirus (HMPV) cases in China has alarmed the population, drawing comparisons to COVID-19.