Editor's note: CGTN's First Voice provides instant commentary on breaking stories. The column clarifies emerging issues and better defines the news agenda, offering a Chinese perspective on the latest global events.

As winter envelops the Northern Hemisphere, a seasonal rise in respiratory infections has triggered alarmist coverage in certain international media outlets, disproportionately focusing on China's human metapneumovirus (HMPV) outbreak, according to an article published by Türkiye's TRT World on Wednesday.

The article, authored by Abhishek G. Bhaya, senior editor at TRT World, underlines how certain segments of the foreign media have focused heavily on China's HMPV outbreak, while "similar or even more severe viral outbreaks involving other pathogens in the United States, Europe, and other parts of the world have received relatively less attention."

This comes despite the World Health Organization (WHO) and public health experts emphasizing that the current rise in respiratory infections, including HMPV, aligns with typical winter patterns. There is no evidence of an extraordinary public health threat, let alone the risk of another COVID-19-style pandemic.

In late December, Chinese authorities reported a rise in HMPV cases among children aged 14 and under, as part of routine updates during the respiratory virus season. Despite these transparent disclosures, social media videos of crowded hospitals ignited speculative narratives about a potential global outbreak.

Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Mao Ning gave reassurances during a press conference on Friday that respiratory illnesses in China this season are less severe and more localized compared to last year. WHO has echoed similar assessments, stating that China's respiratory infection rates remain within the usual seasonal range.

'Western and Indian media hyping Chinese cases'

While China's HMPV outbreak garners significant media attention, coverage of viral outbreaks in the United States, Europe and other regions is relatively muted, lacking the same intensity and scrutiny.

"Some of the more sensationalistic Western and Indian media are hyping Chinese cases," Josef Gregory Mahoney, a professor at East China Normal University in Shanghai, told TRT World. "Nevertheless, leading media platforms appear to be taking a more balanced approach."

The United States, for instance, has reported its first death from the H5N1 bird flu strain in Louisiana amid a rise in respiratory infections, with influenza leading the surge, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Additionally, a norovirus outbreak has also raised concerns in the U.S. Meanwhile, the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) has noted significant increases in influenza and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) cases across Europe.

Despite these developments, media narratives often downplay these outbreaks while amplifying concerns about China, prompting questions about the motivations behind such reporting.

Media bias in the post-COVID era

The discourse around HMPV underscores how perceptions of infectious disease threats have shifted in the aftermath of the pandemic. Bhaya, in the article, observed that public fears are amplified when illnesses emerge in China, often framed through an alarmist lens.

"Viruses that are well-known to experts but less familiar to the public now attract disproportionate attention," Bhaya noted. He highlighted parallels with last year's overblown fears about mycoplasma pneumonia in China, which public health experts deemed exaggerated.

Mahoney echoed these sentiments. "Western media rarely hesitate to portray China in the worst light, and this is due to ideological differences and Orientalist clickbait business models," he told TRT World.

Concerns about HMPV echo last winter's panic over childhood pneumonia in China, linked to periodic spikes of mycoplasma pneumonia. Public health experts similarly deemed fears, including calls for travel bans, as exaggerated.

"There's just this tendency post-COVID to treat every infectious disease event as an emergency, even when it's not," Amesh Adalja, an infectious diseases physician and senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security, told The Washington Post.

China's commitment to transparency

Chinese authorities have reiterated their commitment to transparency in disease reporting. Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Guo Jiakun emphasized on Tuesday, "The Chinese government has and will continue to release information about infectious diseases in a timely and transparent way in accordance with law." WHO corroborates this, stating it has not received reports of unusual outbreak patterns in China.

"WHO is in contact with Chinese health officials and has not received any reports of unusual outbreak patterns. Chinese authorities report that the health care system is not overwhelmed and there have been no emergency declarations or responses triggered," it said in a January 7 statement.

HMPV, first identified in 2001, causes symptoms similar to the common cold and circulates globally during winter. Experts, including Mahoney, stress that there is no evidence linking the virus's origin to China, nor is there cause for undue concern.

As Mahoney told TRT World, "The virus has been found worldwide since at least 2001," adding, "There's no indication that it originated in China."

In the TRT World article, Bhaya observes that, ironically, China's transparency in reporting outbreaks often fuels sensational media narratives in the West, raising concerns that such biased coverage could discourage openness in the future.

Mahoney dismissed this notion, stating, "China has demonstrated its commitment to addressing public health concerns transparently because openness is essential for mitigation." He added that the country's improved disease tracking systems make secrecy virtually impossible.

While seasonal respiratory infections are an annual reality, the disproportionate media focus on China continues to distort global perceptions. Experts call for balanced reporting that aligns with scientific assessments and fosters a more nuanced understanding of public health challenges.

(If you want to contribute and have specific expertise, please contact us at opinions@cgtn.com. Follow @thouse_opinions on Twitter to discover the latest commentaries in the CGTN Opinion Section.)