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The federal government has reassured the public of its preparedness to address any potential outbreak of Human Metapneumovirus (HMPV) in the country.
The government emphasized that necessary precautionary measures have been put in place, with continuous improvements to health infrastructure.
The Minister of State for Health and Social Welfare, Adekunle Salako, reassured Nigerians not to panic, emphasizing that the virus is not novel while urging the public to prioritize hygiene, especially as the season linked to the virus begins.
This comes as the World Health Organization (WHO), in a report on Tuesday, was quoted by a foreign newspaper stating that HMPV does not currently pose a threat to public health.
Saying that the HMPV is not new to Nigeria, Salako noted that it has been identified as a cause of lower respiratory tract and severe acute respiratory infections especially among children, older adults and individuals with weak immune systems.
Salako assured that the Federal Government of Nigeria through the relevant agencies of the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare especially the Nigeria Center for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC) and the Port Health Services has scaled up its surveillance activities.
“This is to ensure that the entry of the respiratory infection suspected to be caused by the HMPV being seen at a higher rate in some parts of China is prevented.
“Measures, including quarantine and collection of samples from people entering our country from China have been put in place to detect any carrier of HMPV.
“Since the COVID-19 pandemic, Nigeria has significantly ramped up its ability to prevent, detect and respond to infectious disease outbreaks as validated by the last Joint External Evaluation conducted in 2023,” he said.
However, The Washington Post, quoted Anadolu Agency, EFE that reported that the World Health Organization (WHO) clarified on Tuesday that the rising circulation of respiratory viruses, HMPV, in China aligns with typical winter patterns, with no emergency declarations amid growing attention to the matter,
A common respiratory virus called human metapneumovirus, or HMPV, has been spreading in some countries in Asia, including China, India, Malaysia and Kazakhstan, Scientific American reported.
An uptick of a routine virus in China ignited dire headlines and social media posts, but public health experts caution that the human metapneumovirus cases are part of the typical ebb and flow of respiratory virus seasons and are no reason to be alarmed.
Similarly, The New York Times on Monday claimed that the WHO has not expressed concern, stating, “Dr. Margaret Harris, a spokeswoman for the organization, cited weekly reports from the Chinese authorities that showed a predictable rise in cases.
“As expected for this time of year, the Northern Hemisphere winter, there is a month-over-month increase of acute respiratory infections, including seasonal influenza, R.S.V. and human metapneumovirus,” she said by email.
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