The first case of Human Metapneumovirus or HMPV has been detected in a two-month-old infant who came to Gujarat for treatment from neighbouring Rajasthan.

The infant who hails from Dungarpur region of Rajasthan has been found positive, the state government stated in an official release. The child is stable and is undergoing treatment, it added.

State health minister Rushikesh Patel stated the health machinery of the state government has been altered and has been asked to gear up to tackle any possible outbreak of the HMPV virus, whose existence was identified in 2001. The government also issued a list of Dos and Don’ts and stated that the symptoms of HMPV virus is similar to common cold and flu.

• Also read: “We have a fair level of exposure to HMPV,” says virologist Gagandeep Kang