ROCHESTER, N.Y. (WROC) — A potential new pandemic — that's been the topic of discussion for The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which is currently monitoring reports of increasing cases of human metapneumovirus, in China’s northern provinces. Meanwhile, Chinese officials say, the rate of infection is declining. Metapneumovirus is a flu-like virus, a medical professional from URMC compared it to RSV and COVID in terms of symptoms and prevention. Angela Branche, an associate professor of medicine at URMC says medical professionals have known about metapneumovirus since the early 2000s. However, they think it's been around for longer than that. In fact, Branche says every winter the virus causes around 5%-8% of all respiratory illnesses, including bronchitis and pneumonia. Actually, she says we are, generally, universally infected by the time we're 12. So, most people should have some sort of immunity and not get very sick. However, children and older adults are more likely to experience more severe symptoms, than others. Branche says the virus starts out with a typical cold, you may then experience symptoms like fever, body aches, and a sore throat. It should take around five to seven days to recover As for a future pandemic caused by metapneumovirus, Branche says it's not likely. "If it were to cause a pandemic it would have to be because something dramatically shifted in the virus, like some new strain that might have emerged. And, there's no evideance that metapneumovirus does that, to that extent, the way COVID did during the pandemic," she said. "In 2021 and 2022, metapneumovirus virtually disappeared. You didn't see any cases and then when it came back in 2023 it was sort of a very abnormal season. So, it's not unexpected necessarily that we would see an uptick in cases this year now that it's the first normal winter season we've had, since the pandemic." As a preventative measure, Branche says, you should wash your hands frequently and mask up if you're in a large crowd.