section_path: Distribution and hosts
section_name: Distribution and hosts
paragraph_text: Distribution and hosts
  
  Though hMPV was first discovered and identified in 2001, serological studies showed that hMPV, or a close relative of it, had already been circulating for at least 50 years. From this information, it is clear that the virus had not just "jumped" from birds, or some other animal reservoir, to humans shortly before its discovery.
  
  As of 2022, peak infection from hMPV in the northern hemisphere is in late winter and early spring, but it can be found globally across all continents and its distribution is very complex and dynamic. Researchers have found that hMPV is mostly localized and can differ significantly from community to community, allowing for the possibility of the strain in one location one year to be most similar to the strain in a different location the next year.
  
  This phenomenon has been recorded with the virus strains in Australia in 2001; in France in 2000 and 2002; in Canada in 1999, 2000, 2001, and 2002; in Israel in 2002; and in the Netherlands in 2001 all being very closely related based on their F gene sequences. There are at least two major genotypes of hMPV (A and B) that circulate during community outbreaks and each genotype has two of its own, but as of now, it seems that no one strain is dominant over the others and none of them are known to cause varying levels of severity.
  
  HMPV is most likely spread from infected individuals to others through 1. secretions from coughing and sneezing, 2. close personal contact (ex. touching, shaking hands, etc), and 3. touching objects with viruses on them then touching your mouth, nose, or eyes. As of 2023, development of a reliable antiviral therapy treatment or vaccine to prevent the spread of hMPV has yet to occur, but there does seem to be promising developments in that area. In some vaccine trials, researchers have observed how a live recombinant human parainfluenza virus that contains the hMPV F gene can induce hMPV-specific antibodies and can protect experimental animals from hMPV.
  
  Another similar study demonstrated how a chimeric bovine /human parainfluenza virus 3 expressing the hMPV F gene allows for neutralizing antibodies against both parainfluenza and hMPV. These experiments have several limitations, including their small-population animal models. Overall, while vaccines and antiviral therapy treatments are in the works, the biggest difficulty that researchers face as of 2006 is the limited data available about the development of hMPV in the natural host.
  
  Though hMPV was first discovered and identified in 2001, serological studies showed that hMPV, or a close relative of it, had already been circulating for at least 50 years. From this information, it is clear that the virus had not just "jumped" from birds, or some other animal reservoir, to humans shortly before its discovery.
  
  As of 2022, peak infection from hMPV in the northern hemisphere is in late winter and early spring, but it can be found globally across all continents and its distribution is very complex and dynamic. Researchers have found that hMPV is mostly localized and can differ significantly from community to community, allowing for the possibility of the strain in one location one year to be most similar to the strain in a different location the next year.
  
  This phenomenon has been recorded with the virus strains in Australia in 2001; in France in 2000 and 2002; in Canada in 1999, 2000, 2001, and 2002; in Israel in 2002; and in the Netherlands in 2001 all being very closely related based on their F gene sequences. There are at least two major genotypes of hMPV (A and B) that circulate during community outbreaks and each genotype has two of its own, but as of now, it seems that no one strain is dominant over the others and none of them are known to cause varying levels of severity.
  
  HMPV is most likely spread from infected individuals to others through 1. secretions from coughing and sneezing, 2. close personal contact (ex. touching, shaking hands, etc), and 3. touching objects with viruses on them then touching your mouth, nose, or eyes. As of 2023, development of a reliable antiviral therapy treatment or vaccine to prevent the spread of hMPV has yet to occur, but there does seem to be promising developments in that area. In some vaccine trials, researchers have observed how a live recombinant human parainfluenza virus that contains the hMPV F gene can induce hMPV-specific antibodies and can protect experimental animals from hMPV.
  
  Another similar study demonstrated how a chimeric bovine /human parainfluenza virus 3 expressing the hMPV F gene allows for neutralizing antibodies against both parainfluenza and hMPV. These experiments have several limitations, including their small-population animal models. Overall, while vaccines and antiviral therapy treatments are in the works, the biggest difficulty that researchers face as of 2006 is the limited data available about the development of hMPV in the natural host.