Rising cases of common respiratory illnesses in China and elsewhere around the Northern Hemisphere are within the range expected for winter, with no unusual outbreaks reported, the World Health Organization said.

China’s winter illness season is less severe compared to the year before, according to data from its health authority. But the proliferation of a long-standing though little-known pathogen called human metapneumovirus (hMPV) has been raising alarm both at home and in other countries.

News that northern China is seeing a surge of the respiratory illness called human metapneumovirus (HMPV), bringing an uptick in hospitalizations, is sparking a bit of anxious déjà vu on social media.

A strong earthquake with a magnitude of 7.1 that killed at least 126 people in western China near Nepal was one of the country’s deadliest in nearly a decade