First Human Death from Shamonda Virus Reported in France

French health and agriculture authorities announced on Thursday that the Shamonda virus, an orthobunyavirus, was detected for the first time in a human. The patient was severely immunocompromised and died at the beginning of October.

The virus is spread by small biting insects, such as Culicoides midges, and has circulated among livestock for decades. Cattle are considered the main hosts, and the virus was previously thought not to be transmissible to humans.

“It has not been established whether the infection caused the death or contributed to it.”

The virus was first identified in Nigeria in the mid-1960s and has been reported sporadically in West, East and Southern Africa as well as Japan. In Europe, it was identified at the end of July and has since spread rapidly across 14 Western European countries.

In France, the virus circulates in cattle across 52 departments, and to a lesser extent in sheep in two departments and equines in one. The patient was treated at the Civil Hospitals of Lyon and developed brain complications before dying.

Authorities have not established whether the infection caused the death or contributed to it. Investigations continue to determine the virus's role in the patient's clinical evolution.

The European variant, called Shamonda-Europe, was identified in Switzerland at the end of July. Spain confirmed the presence of Shamonda type 1 in seven cattle farms in Cordoba and Toledo on September 22.