France reports first human Shamonda virus case

French ‌health authorities ​said they had detected the Shamonda virus usually ‌affecting livestock in a human for the first time in a patient who later died, while adding ‌that they saw no risk to ‌the general population at this stage. Shamonda virus is an insect-borne Orthobunyavirus primarily affecting livestock, particularly cattle, and transmitted ⁠by biting ​midges.

First identified ⁠in Nigeria in the mid-1960s, it has since been ⁠detected sporadically in animals in Africa and ​Japan. It has been spreading among several European ⁠countries this year. The virus had until now been ⁠considered ​non-transmissible to humans, the French government said.

The leading hypothesis is that the patient ⁠may have been infected in eastern France, where the ⁠virus ⁠had been circulating among animals during spring and summer 2026.