The US states where HMPV is surging – and how to tell if you have the virus ravaging China

The virus that is fueling fears of a pandemic in China is surging in parts of the US Midwest, official data shows.

Infections caused by human metapneumovirus (HPMV) are three times higher than the U.S. national average in Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska and Iowa. It is estimated that more than one in twenty people in the states who are coughing have the virus.

CDC data shows that 5.4 percent of tests conducted in the region during the last week of December were positive for HMPV, compared to 1.9 in the rest of America.

HMPV, which some doctors have described as “the most important virus you’ve never heard of,” is partly blamed for a virus outbreak in China that is reportedly overwhelming hospitals in the country’s northern provinces.

But Beijing and the World Health Organization have played down images of crowded waiting rooms and wards on Chinese social media, saying the country’s outbreak is “not unusual” for winter and is actually “smaller in scale” compared to last year.

The situation led to some similarities with the 2019 Covid outbreak, which was initially downplayed by China, but experts say these are completely different.

HMPV is much milder than the original Covid strain and because it has been around for decades, there is already population immunity against it.

Still, it can be fatal for children and immunocompromised patients like Diane Davison, 60, a Maryland lawyer, who was “unable to talk” because of “violent” coughing fits.

This map shows how the CDC breaks down different regions of the US based on the weekly breakdown of respiratory infections

The World Health Organization said in a statement on Tuesday that it had been in contact with Chinese health authorities, who had not noted any unusual outbreak patterns.

The WHO said: ‘The observed increase in acute respiratory infections and associated pathogen detections in many countries in the Northern Hemisphere in recent weeks is expected at this time of year and is not unusual.’

HMPV first appeared in 2001 and typically causes cold symptoms such as coughing, fever and runny nose.

But more serious symptoms can occur, such as bronchitis, bronchiolitis and pneumonia, with patients experiencing shortness of breath, severe coughing or wheezing.

According to the National Respiratory and Enteric Virus Surveillance System (NREVSS), a CDC database, Region 5 was the area with the second highest HMPV rate in the US.

This area includes Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota.

An estimated 2.2 per cent of the region’s 2,270 HMPV tests were positive in the week of December 28, meaning around one in 50 people with a respiratory illness has the virus.

Regions 8 and 9 achieved the third highest HMPV rates with a test positivity of two percent from 1,168 and 354 tests respectively.

These areas include Colorado, North Dakota, South Dakota, Wyoming, California, Nevada, Arizona, Utah and Montana.

Regions 1 and 2 had the lowest test positivity rates at 0.9 percent. These areas include northeastern states such as Maine, New York, Massachusetts, Connecticut and New Jersey.

Region 1 conducted 2,270 tests, while Region 2 conducted 1,855 tests.

Overall, data shows that positive test results for HMPV are now twice as high in the US compared to this time last year, but the number of cases remains low and the CDC says there is nothing out of the ordinary.

In the last week of December, there were only 300 positive cases in America nationwide.

Tens of thousands of Americans contract HMPV every year, but few become sick enough to require treatment and testing.

The rise of HMPV has drawn comparisons to the early days of the Covid pandemic. Pictured here is a group of voters casting early ballots during the 2020 election

Experts have warned that HMPV, which causes flu-like symptoms, can linger in the body for days and can easily be passed on to others.

A US CDC spokesperson told Nexstar that the agency is monitoring the situation in China and that “these reports are not currently a cause for concern in the US.”

Children, the elderly, and immunocompromised patients are at greatest risk for serious complications.

Researchers estimate that one in 10 respiratory illnesses in American children are caused by HMPV. Approximately 20,000 children under the age of five are hospitalized with HMPV in the US each year.

Because the virus is usually mild, the exact fatality rate is unknown. But experts estimate that in the US, between 10 and 30 percent of patients hospitalized with HMPV die.

There are no vaccines or specific treatments for the disease.