Singapore experienced a rise in human metapneumovirus (HMPV) infections at the end of 2024, the ministry of health said, but added that it was consistent with previous year-end trends due to increased social gatherings and holiday travel.

China, India, and Malaysia have also reported spikes in HMPV cases and Bali authorities have ramped up monitoring of Chinese and Malaysian nationals arriving in the city.

Singapore’s ministry of health has advised practising good hygiene, coughing and sneezing etiquette and hand washing practices to mitigate the spread.

The virus, identified as human metapneumovirus (HMPV), has seen cases spiking across northern Chinese provinces this winter, particularly among children.

The outbreak comes five years after the world was first alerted to the emergence of a novel coronavirus in Wuhan, China, which later turned into a global pandemic with seven million deaths reported.

Photos and videos of people wearing masks in hospitals in China emerged on social media platforms and local reports compared the scenes to the initial outbreak of Covid.

Health authorities are implementing new measures to monitor and manage the spread of pneumonia cases of unknown origin. Nonetheless, Beijing has downplayed the developments as an annual winter occurrence.

Nepal plans to test respiratory illness patients for HMPV to assess its spread this winter, The Kathmandu Post reported.

While the virus has been detected in the country in the past, officials aim to confirm its presence by testing those with influenza-like symptoms who test negative for influenza.

“Although infection of human metapneumovirus is not new to our country and has been detected several times in the past, we have decided to carry out testing on specimens from patients suffering from influenza-like symptoms who test negative for influenza virus,” Dr Yadu Chandra Ghimire, director of the epidemiology and disease control division.

Dr Ghimire advised against panic, saying: “This virus has been circulating in our communities for years. We usually don’t test unless there is a spike in new cases. We have decided to carry out testing, as the rise in infections in our neighbours have become headline news”.

Singapore experienced a rise in human metapneumovirus (HMPV) infections at the end of 2024, the ministry of health said, but added that it was consistent with previous year-end trends due to increased social gatherings and holiday travel.

China, India, and Malaysia have also reported spikes in HMPV cases and Bali authorities have ramped up monitoring of Chinese and Malaysian nationals arriving in the city.

Singapore’s ministry of health has advised practising good hygiene, coughing and sneezing etiquette and hand washing practices to mitigate the spread.

Like most common respiratory illnesses, HMPV usually clears up on its own.

Treatment of symptoms is usually in the form of medications to control pain and fever, such as ibuprofen and paracetamol

Patients with more severe wheezing and coughing may require a temporary inhaler, according to the American Lung Association.

The virus was first identified in 2001, but researchers believe it has been circulating in humans for at least six decades. Despite its longevity, it lacks the name recognition of influenza, Covid-19, or RSV, according to Dr Leigh Howard, an associate professor of paediatric infectious diseases at Vanderbilt University Medical Center.

One reason for its obscurity is that it is rarely referred to by name, except in cases where individuals are hospitalised with a confirmed infection, Dr Howard told The New York Times.

“The clinical features are really difficult to distinguish from other viral illnesses, and we don’t routinely test for HMPV the way we do for Covid, flu or RSV,” Dr Howard said.

“So most infections go unrecognised and are chalked up to whatever respiratory thing is going around.”

In the wake of the rise in HMPV infections in China and Malaysia, authorities in Bali have started monitoring foreign arrivals from these countries.

According to the local health authorities, nationals from China and Malaysia arriving in Bali have to fill out a health pass three days before their arrival to the island to keep a record of passengers’ health issues like body temperature, cold or flu symptoms.

Researchers in the Netherlands discovered the virus in 2001. Scientists collected 28 samples from children in the Netherlands who had unexplained respiratory illnesses.

No recognised illnesses were detected in their blood, despite the fact that a number of them had severe illnessess and required mechanical breathing.

Before being viewed under an electron microscope, the samples were grown in several cell types from dogs, chickens, and monkeys.

HMPV (human metapneumovirus) spreads through direct contact with infected individuals or by touching contaminated surfaces, experts say.

Unlike viruses like flu, RSV, and Covid-19, there is no vaccine for HMPV, Dr Carla Garcia Carreno, director of infection prevention and control at Children’s Medical Center in Plano, Texas says. “We don’t have that advantage of priming or boosting our immune system to fight these viruses. But still, everything else that we learned for Covid can apply to metapneumovirus.”

She told CBS News: “If somebody’s sick, try to avoid crowding so they don’t expose everybody, especially the vulnerable people. If that person is sick and can not avoid going to a place where other people are, then try to use a mask, use cough and sneezing etiquette and good hand washing.”