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Jan. 7 (UPI) -- A handful of cases of the Human Metapneumovirus have been confirmed in India, but officials say there's no cause for alarm. On Tuesday, Indian health officials reported two new HMPV cases, bringing the total to seven across India's population of more than 1 billion.
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The two fresh diagnoses were in the central city of Nagpur, with two cases reported on Monday in the city of Bengaluru and one case each in Ahmedabad, Chennai and Salem.
According to officials, a three-month-old tested positive on Monday with another involving an eight-month-old boy.
On Monday, the Indian federal government asked its 28 states to step up surveillance of respiratory illnesses and to help spread more awareness how to prevent HMPV transmission, which causes common cold-like symptoms.
HMPV was estimated in 2018 to of killed at least 11,000 kids under the age of 5 while the similar respiratory syncytial virus -- or RSV -- kills an estimated 60,000 children globally each year.
Severe infections typically occur in young children, older people and those with a weakened immune system or conditions such as as asthma.
Similar to ways to prevent most any other infection, preventive measures include covering the mouth and nose particularly while sneezing or coughing, along with frequent hand-washing and wearing a mask.
On Monday, India's Health Ministry stated the HMPV infections, first identified in 2001, were of "no cause of concern" for the public.
"The virus infection is usually a mild and self-limiting condition and most cases recover on their own," the ministry wrote Tuesday in a statement.
The World Health Organization, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and other health agencies have not voiced concern over the spike of infections in Asia.
Meanwhile, HMPV infections are seeing a reported surge in China, but health experts indicate there's little concern over another global pandemic.
Indian Health Minister J. P. Nadda said Monday how health experts have clarified that the HMPV is in fact not a new virus
"This has been circulating for a while, so people have some immunity," Dr. Carla Garcia Carreno, director of infection prevention and control at the Children's Medical Center Plano in Texas, told CBS. She added that, unlike COVID-19 that mutates, HMPV is a fairly stable virus.
According to Nadia, the government is "closely monitoring" the situation in China and in other neighboring countries.
"The health systems and surveillance networks of the country are vigilant and there is no reason to worry," he said.
