France reports first human Shamonda virus case, says no health risk

French authorities have confirmed that a patient who died at a Lyon hospital earlier in October was infected with the Shamonda virus, the first such report of the virus in a human. Until now, the virus was considered non-transferable to humans, making this patient the first documented case.

In a statement on Thursday, the French Ministry of Agriculture stressed that there were no identifiable health risks to the general population at this time. Shamonda is an orthobunyavirus – a group of viruses primarily carried and spread by insects – transmitted to animals, mainly cattle, by biting midges of the genus Culicoides.

European spread

The virus was first detected in Nigeria in the 1960s but has since been reported sporadically in East and Southern Africa, as well as Japan. Shamonda was first confirmed in Europe in late July after genomic tests on sick cattle in southern Germany, Switzerland and eastern France.

A report from France's weekly animal health surveillance bulletin said the virus had also been detected in Austria, Belgium, Ireland, Italy, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal, Slovenia, Spain, and the United Kingdom's Jersey.

Investigation continues

The French announcement said the leading hypothesis was that the patient was infected in eastern France, where the virus had circulated among animals this spring and summer.