section_path: Discovery and naming
section_name: Discovery and naming
paragraph_text: Discovery and naming
  
  Human metapneumovirus (HMPV) was first discovered in 2001 in the Netherlands by Bernadette G. van den Hoogen and her colleagues. HMPV was first detected in the respiratory secretions of 28 young children in the Netherlands and had initially stood out from other common respiratory viruses because the testing methods van den Hoogen and her colleagues had tried using—immunological assays using virus-specific antibodies and PCR-based methods using virus genome-specific primers—were able to test only for known respiratory viruses and, therefore, were unable to identify the novel virus.
  
  When researchers began applying molecular biology techniques, the genetic characteristics and portions of the genomic sequences of the virus could be identified. These techniques included the randomly primed PCR technique, which obtained the limited sequence data needed to reveal a clear relationship between this new virus and the avian pneumovirus. The new virus, human metapneumovirus, is named for its close relationship to AMPV, indicating its identity as a metapneumovirus and its human host.
  
  Human metapneumovirus (HMPV) was first discovered in 2001 in the Netherlands by Bernadette G. van den Hoogen and her colleagues. HMPV was first detected in the respiratory secretions of 28 young children in the Netherlands and had initially stood out from other common respiratory viruses because the testing methods van den Hoogen and her colleagues had tried using—immunological assays using virus-specific antibodies and PCR-based methods using virus genome-specific primers—were able to test only for known respiratory viruses and, therefore, were unable to identify the novel virus.
  
  When researchers began applying molecular biology techniques, the genetic characteristics and portions of the genomic sequences of the virus could be identified. These techniques included the randomly primed PCR technique, which obtained the limited sequence data needed to reveal a clear relationship between this new virus and the avian pneumovirus. The new virus, human metapneumovirus, is named for its close relationship to AMPV, indicating its identity as a metapneumovirus and its human host.