Understanding China's current HMPV outbreak

Share and Follow

Key Points

Parts of China are experiencing outbreaks of human metapneumovirus (HMPV), an acute respiratory illness.
While there is no vaccine, unlike COVID-19, HMPV is not completely new in humans.
Experts have suggested Australians take “a cautious and measured approach”.

Australians may have spotted images of busy hospital waiting rooms in China on their social media feeds in recent days, alongside warnings of a “new virus” spreading through the world’s second most populous country.

While many of the posts mention a “mysterious respiratory” illness, experts have said the virus is not unfamiliar to Australians and it’s unlikely to warrant panic.

What is HMPV and what are the symptoms?

Parts of China are experiencing outbreaks of that usually causes cold or flu-like symptoms.

Sanjaya Senanayake, an associate professor of medicine at the Australian National University, said the virus was first reported in 2001.

“It has probably been causing infections in humans for much longer but it needed the correct technology to find it,” he said.

There are no vaccines for HMPV but severe cases can be treated at hospitals.

Jaya Dantas, professor of international health at Curtin University, said HMPV can cause coughing, a blocked or runny nose with congestion, and shortness of breath.

However, the severity of the infection varies, she noted.

“In young children, the elderly, and those who are immunocompromised, HMPV can lead to severe cases and can move to the lower respiratory tract and may lead to pneumonia,” she said.

What are experts saying about it?

Dantas said Australia needed to take “a cautious and measured approach” to the situation as authorities and experts monitor what’s happening in China.

She said people should take “necessary precautions” such as getting PCR tests to identify viruses, staying home if battling an infection, and wearing a mask in public to “protect our most vulnerable”.

What’s the situation in China?

In recent weeks, northern China has seen a surge in HMPV cases during its winter, particularly among children, local authorities say.

“At this stage, the likelihood is that China is experiencing a bad HMPV season, in the same way that in some years we have an overwhelming flu season,” Senanayake said.

“This could be due to a combination of viral and behavioural factors, but it should settle down.”

He said it was “vital for China to share its data on this outbreak in a timely manner”, including epidemiological data about who is getting infected and genomic data confirming that HMPV is the culprit.

Senanayake said genomic data would also guide vaccine development, which is already underway.

Is HMPV like COVID-19?

While dealing with the outbreaks will no doubt be a “priority for China’s health system”, it should not lead to immediate concerns elsewhere about a new pandemic, Senanayake explained.

Professor Jill Carr, a virologist at Flinders University, said the situation was not yet comparable to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“HMPV can certainly make people very sick, and high case numbers are a threat to effective hospital services, but the current situation in China with high HMPV cases is very different to the threats initially posed by SARS-CoV-2 resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic,” she said.

Carr said that, with COVID-19, “the virus was completely new in humans and arose from a spill-over from animals and spread to pandemic levels because there was no prior exposures or protective immunity in the community”.

She said “the scientific community also has some understanding of the genetic diversity and epidemiology of HPMV” and its impacts on the lungs, as well as established laboratory testing methods to detect it.

“Again, very different to the COVID-19 pandemic, where a new lung disease was seen, there was little information on how the virus may vary and spread, and we had no initial diagnostic tests.”

What is the government saying?

Health Minister Mark Butler told reporters on Sunday the government was watching the situation in China and he had asked his department to keep him up to date on any developments.

“These are pretty recently emerging reports about the impact that human metapneumovirus or HMPV, is having in China,” he said.

“It’s not uncommon for there to be a surge in respiratory illnesses during the Chinese winter and for that to impact their hospital systems.”

Butler said HMPV was also “quite common” in Australia and has been “for a long time”. He cited figures showing it was the fifth most common respiratory illness to be contracted in 2024.

“It’s a type of illness we’re pretty familiar with.”