French patient dies after Shamonda virus detected in human for first time
French health authorities said they had detected the Shamonda virus, which usually affects livestock, in a human for the first time, in a patient who later died, and added that they saw no risk to the general population at this stage.
Shamonda virus is an insect-borne Orthobunyavirus that primarily affects livestock, particularly cattle, and is transmitted by biting midges.
First identified in Nigeria in the mid-1960s, it has since been detected sporadically in animals in Africa and Japan.
Shamonda virus spreads among European countries
It has been spreading among several European countries this year.
The French government said the virus had until now been considered non-transmissible to humans.
The leading hypothesis is that the patient may have been infected in eastern France, where the virus circulated among animals during spring and summer 2026.
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