Ghana has confirmed one case of the Human Metapneumovirus (hMPV), Health Minister Kwabena Mintah Akandoh has said.
The minister who was giving an update on disease outbreaks in Parliament on Tuesday, February 18, 2025, told the House that the hMPV case was detected in an elderly adult, one out of 90 samples tested for the virus.
“In response to a recent increase in respiratory cases in China and some temperate countries in December 2024, as part of our routine surveillance, we commenced testing for Human metapneumovirus hMPV this year in January 2025.
“So far, 90 samples have been selected for testing, and only one positive case has been detected for hMPV. This was detected from an elderly person,” the Minister said.
“We have a robust monitoring system in place for respiratory viruses, including hMPV. Any detected case will be quickly identified and managed to prevent further spread,” the minister has assured.
On January 17, 2025, the Ghana Health Service (GHS) issued a statement saying that it was actively surveilling and putting in place necessary measures to combat any new acute respiratory virus that may be imported into the country.
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These measures included collecting weekly samples from respiratory sites located in all 16 regions of the country, although, at the time, there had been no evidence of “unusual respiratory pathogens including hMPV.”
What is hMPV?
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), hMPV is one of the viruses that causes the common cold (upper respiratory infection). “It usually makes people only mildly sick, but it can make some people very sick.”
hMPV spreads like how other common cold viruses do, through infectious respiratory particles that spread through the air from a sick person to others. This means a person can catch the virus when they are close to a sick person or sharing a closed space with them. It can also enter the body by touching contaminated surfaces like doorknobs or handles and then touching the eyes, nose or mouth.
The virus spreads largely in many countries of the Northern Hemisphere during the winter period, the WHO said in a statement early last month when it observed an uptick in countries like China.
“hMPV is a common respiratory virus found to circulate in many countries in winter through to spring, although not all countries routinely test and publish data on trends in hMPV . While some cases can be hospitalized with bronchitis or pneumonia, most people infected with hMPV have mild upper respiratory symptoms similar to the common cold and recover after a few days.
“Based on data published by China, covering the period up to 29 December 2024, acute respiratory infections have increased during recent weeks, and detections of seasonal influenza, rhinovirus, RSV, and hMPV, particularly in northern provinces of China have also increased. The observed increase in respiratory pathogen detections is within the range expected for this time of year during the Northern hemisphere winter,” the WHO said.
By GhanaFact Newsroom
