Beijing blasts false claims regarding HMPV infection

Beijing has made a fresh rebuke to some voices labeling China's recent cases of infection with human metapneumovirus, or HMPV, as an "unknown virus", calling such claims "run counter to basic scientific knowledge and scaremongering".

According to authorities in charge, HMPV is not a "new strain", and it has been present in the human world for more than 60 years, Foreign Ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun said on Friday.

"It is a common virus that causes upper respiratory tract infections, and its infections are characterized by self-limiting illnesses," the spokesman said at a daily news conference when asked about some people's worries about the safety of travel to China and notions such as "an unknown virus appeared in China".