The Indian government has become alert about the new virus spreading in China. The Union Health Ministry on Saturday called a meeting of the Joint Monitoring Group on the issue. The Union Health Ministry is closely monitoring the situation in China and WHO has been requested to share timely updates about the situation. India is well prepared to deal with respiratory diseases.

Health Ministry said- there is no need to worry

The Union Health Ministry on Saturday urged people to remain calm over the spread of HMPV (human metapneumovirus) in China. The government said the situation in China is "not unusual". The ministry said reports also indicate that the current surge in cases is due to influenza virus, RSV and HMPV which are common pathogens expected during the season. 

Indian government is alert about new virus

The Centre said India already has a robust surveillance system for Influenza-like Illness (ILI) and Severe Acute Respiratory Illness (SARI). It said data from both the ICMR and IDSP networks have shown no unusual increase in the number of ILI and SARI cases. Hospital authorities have also confirmed that there has been no increase in respiratory illness cases in the last few weeks except for normal seasonal variations.

The health ministry said ICMR also tests for other respiratory viruses such as adenovirus, RSV, hMPV etc. and these pathogens do not show any abnormal growth in the samples tested. As a precautionary measure, the number of laboratories testing for hMPV will be increased by ICMR.

 If you have a cough, avoid coming in contact with people

On Friday, DGHS Director General Dr Atul Goel had said that HMPV is just like any other respiratory virus that causes the common cold. He urged the public to follow the usual precautions for all respiratory infections, meaning if someone has a cough and cold they should avoid coming in contact with too many people to prevent the infection from spreading.