France has reported the first-ever human case of the Shamonda virus – a virus usually found in livestock.
The patient, a man in his 60s living in the Lyon area, died in early October after being hospitalized in Lyon for an unrelated serious illness that left him severely immunocompromised.
French health and agriculture ministries announced the case on Thursday, October 22. It is suspected the patient was bitten by a midge carrying the virus in eastern France, where it had been circulating among animals this spring and summer Authorities said the neurological complications observed before his death are very likely linked to the Shamonda virus infection Investigations are still ongoing.
However both the French government and the World Health Organization (WHO) say there is no risk to the general population. In a statement that reads:
“Based on current information and knowledge of the transmission of closely related viruses, this is an isolated human case and it is unlikely to lead to wider spread at this time,” by WHO.
France’s health directorate, Gregory Emery, called it “unprecedented from a scientific and virological point of view” and said it was linked to the man’s severely weakened immune system, adding: “From a medical and public health point of view, there is no alert and no crisis.”
Shamonda virus belongs to the Orthobunyavirus group and it is usually transmitted by biting midges (Culicoides), not person-to-person
It mainly affects livestock like cattle, sheep, goats, horses, and alpacas – causing fever, diarrhoea, lethargy and drop in milk production in cattle
Interestingly, Shamonda virus was detected in Nigeria in the mid-1960s, and has circulated in Africa and Asia for decades. It had never been detected in humans before
First confirmed in Europe in late July 2026 on cattle farms in southern Germany, Switzerland and eastern France It has now been detected in 14 western European countries, according to France’s animal health monitoring institute.There are currently no commercially available vaccines.
