![VOA Mandarin: China's winter surge of flu-like HMPV cases raises concerns of transparency](https://gdb.voanews.com/7CDD927B-42A4-4A81-A1E8-188B66634C81.jpg)
VOA Mandarin: China's winter surge of flu-like HMPV cases raises concerns of transparency
Voice of America
FILE - A medical worker administers a dose of a vaccine against COVID-19 to an elderly resident, during a government-organized visit to a vaccination center in Zhongmin village on the outskirts of Shanghai, Dec. 21, 2022.
Human Metapneumovirus (HMPV) has recently spread widely across China, overwhelming hospitals and evoking memories of the COVID-19 outbreak. HMPV is not a new virus; it has been known for years and typically has a low mortality rate. Nevertheless, epidemiologists are calling for greater transparency about the spread of the virus to help contain infections. While the health care system is under strain, experts stress that there is no need for panic. They recommend the public follow basic protective measures, particularly during the Spring Festival travel period, to help curb further spread of the virus.
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FILE - Leonhard Seppala and his sled dog team pictured on Oct. 12, 1928, in Alaska. In 1925, Seppala was part of the nearly 700-mile relay of mushers and dog teams to get diphtheria antitoxin to Nome, Alaska, during a deadly outbreak of the disease. FILE - Gunnar Kaasen poses with his original dog team — including his lead dog Balto, top row, second left, in 1925 — which he drove through a blinding blizzard to deliver lifesaving serum, in Nome, Alaska. FILE - Gunnar Kaasen and his dogsled team leader Balto pose for a portrait in the early 1920s. FILE - The statue erected to honor "Balto" and other heroic sled dogs who carried serum to Nome, Alaska, through an Arctic blizzard is covered in snow in New York's Central Park, Dec. 11, 1947.