French health authorities have confirmed the first human detection of the Shamonda virus, which usually affects livestock, in a severely immunocompromised patient who died earlier this month—though officials stress there is no identified risk to the general public.

---

The health and agriculture ministries said in a joint statement on Thursday that the infection appeared to be “an exceptional case involving a severely immunocompromised patient” who had been hospitalised for a serious medical condition. “Despite circulating in Africa and Asia for several decades, the Shamonda virus has never previously been detected in humans,” the ministries said.

The virus, which belongs to the Orthobunyavirus group and is typically transmitted to animals by small biting insects, was first detected in Europe this summer. At this stage of the investigation, the patient is believed to have contracted it through the bite of a midge in eastern France, where the virus was circulating in animals during the spring and summer.

Preliminary findings suggest the neurological complications observed in the patient before death are “very likely linked to infection with the Shamonda virus,” the ministries added, though clinical, biological and epidemiological investigations are ongoing.

Detected in 14 European Countries

The virus was first identified in Nigeria in the mid-1960s and has since been reported in cattle across parts of Africa and in Japan. It was detected in Europe for the first time at the end of July, including on cattle farms in France, and has now been found in 14 western European countries, according to an epidemiological bulletin from France’s national research institute monitoring animal health.

Cattle are considered the main animal hosts, though sporadic infections in smaller livestock and horses have also been identified in France this summer. In cattle, the main symptoms are acute diarrhoea, fever, lethargy and a drop in milk production.

The investigation continues, and both the World Health Organization and the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control have been notified.