China has reported no 'unusual or novel pathogens' in respiratory illnesses spreading in the north of the country, the World Health Organization said on Thursday.

The National Health Commission told reporters last week that a respiratory illness spike was due to the lifting of Covid-19 restrictions and the circulation of known pathogens, namely influenza and common bacterial infections affecting children, including mycoplasma pneumonia.

The World Health Organization says it asked China for information about a potentially worrying spike in respiratory illnesses and clusters of pneumonia in children, after recording an increase in "influenza-like illness" since mid-October when compared to the same period in the previous three years.

The WHO said on Thursday that Chinese authorities had responded, advising "that there has been no detection of any unusual or novel pathogens or unusual clinical presentations, including in Beijing and Liaoning".

It was a matter, the authorities said, of the "aforementioned general increase in respiratory illnesses due to multiple known pathogens".

Beijing is currently experiencing a cold snap, with temperatures expected to plummet to well below zero by Friday, state media said.

The city has "entered a high incidence season of respiratory infectious diseases", Wang Quanyi, deputy director and chief epidemiological expert at the Beijing Center for Disease Control and Prevention, told state media. (AFP/Reuters)