Kyrgyzstan's Health Ministry: No Cause for Concern Over Metapneumovirus

Dinara Otorbaeva, head of the Epidemiology Department at the Disease Prevention and State Sanitary and Epidemiological Surveillance Department, reassured the public during a broadcast on Birinchi Radio, stating that there is no cause for concern regarding media reports on metapneumovirus, The Caspian Post reports citing foreign media.

Otorbaeva noted that the virus is not new and has been registered in Kyrgyzstan even before 2024.

"Metapneumovirus is a type of acute respiratory viral infection (ARVI). It was officially identified in 2001 in the Netherlands and given its name. However, scientists later discovered that this virus had been spreading annually since 1950. Different types of ARVI are registered every year in our country, including respiratory syncytial virus, adenovirus, metapneumovirus, parainfluenza, and others. We have also been studying metapneumovirus in Kyrgyzstan since 2021. It is almost indistinguishable from other acute viruses," she explained.

Dinara Otorbaeva added that only two cases of metapneumovirus were detected in Kyrgyzstan from October to December (weeks 40-52).

"Research will continue. There is no reason for concern or fear," she emphasized.

An outbreak of human metapneumovirus in China was reported earlier. The incidence in China is increasing among children aged 14 and younger, and it is most widespread in the northern provinces.