BEIJING: The Chinese foreign ministry said on Friday (Jan 10) that it had maintained close communication with the World Health Organization (WHO) on respiratory diseases when asked about the rising cases of the human metapneumovirus (HMPV) in China.

The Chinese government takes the health of its people and that of foreign nationals in China seriously, but the HMPV is not a new virus and has been circulating in humans for more than 60 years, Guo Jiakun, a foreign ministry spokesperson, said at a regular press conference.

In its latest report, China's Center For Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said HMPV cases remained at high levels. That is in line with cases in other parts of the northern hemisphere. 

"HMPV infections manifest itself as a self-limiting disease," Guo said. "It is alarmist to exaggerate common viruses as unknown viruses, which goes against scientific common sense."

China's CDC said on Thursday that while the rate of influenza virus in the country has shown signs of slowing, the overall cases of acute respiratory infectious diseases continued to rise.

Flu activity across the country is expected to gradually decline in mid-to-late January, the report said.

On Tuesday, the WHO said it had been in contact with Chinese health officials and had not received any reports of unusual outbreak patterns.