Port of Spain, January 16, 2025: The Ministry of Health takes this opportunity to correct erroneous information reported by the media related to the human metapneumovirus (hMPV).
To this end, by a press release dated January 15, 2025, the Ministry of Health noted the following:
“It must be noted that the Minister of Health and the Chief Medical Officer have stated publicly that the hMPV is not new to the world, including the region of the Americas and Trinidad and Tobago, and has been detected worldwide as early as 2001. These statements were based on epidemiological information from the World Health Organization (WHO), PAHO as well as the Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA).”
These statements were made by the Minister of Health on Sunday 12th January, 2025 at the launch of the mass vaccination drive at the Paddock, Queen’s Park Savannah, and by the Chief Medical Officer during an interview on The Morning Brew on Friday 10th January, 2025.
Therefore, a case in November 2024 cannot be categorised as a “first case” of this virus, which has been in circulation worldwide since 2001. In this regard, data from the Trinidad Public Health Laboratory (TPHL), based on tests conducted at CARPHA’s laboratory, noted the following confirmed cases of hMPV in Trinidad and Tobago during the period 2019 to 2024:
| Year | Number of Confirmed Cases |
| 2024 | 7 |
| 2023 | 9 |
| 2022 | 1 |
| 2021 | 0 |
| 2020 | 5 |
| 2019 | 12 |
As such, the Ministry of Health reemphasises the following:
1. hMPV is not a notifiable disease at this time. Therefore, there is no statutory requirement for reporting.
2. hMPV is not a new virus.
The Ministry of Health will continue to provide updates to the public as necessary. The media is also encouraged to uphold the highest standards of journalism to avoid misinformation, which may cause unnecessary panic or confusion.
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