France reports first human case of livestock virus Shamonda after patient dies

France on Thursday reported the first human case of the Shamonda virus usually found in livestock in a ‌patient who later died, with authorities adding there was no risk to the general population at this stage. It is suspected that the victim was bitten by a midge carrying the virus in eastern France where it had circulated among animals this spring and summer, ‌the government said in a statement.

The UN's World Health Organization said it was in contact with French authorities about the outbreak. The ‌patient died in early October and had been receiving treatment for a serious illness that made them more susceptible to infection than the general population, the Stockholm-based European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control said in a statement.

The victim was a man in 60s living in the Lyon area, local newspaper Le Progres ⁠reported. "Based ​on current information and knowledge ⁠of the transmission of closely related viruses, this is an isolated human case and it is unlikely to lead to wider spread at this time," said the ⁠Geneva-based WHO, which coordinates responses to international public health issues and emergencies.

The French government also said no health risk to the general population had ​been identified. VIRUS SPREADING IN ANIMALS IN EUROPE

Shamonda is transmitted by biting midges and most commonly found in cattle, though ⁠it has also been found in horses, alpaca, sheep and goats, according to the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH). It is not classified as a disease under the ⁠EU ​Animal Health Law and not subject to official surveillance or control measures.

Identified in Nigeria in the mid-1960s, Shamonda was first confirmed in Europe in late July after genomic tests on sick cattle in southern Germany, Switzerland and eastern France. France's weekly animal health ⁠surveillance bulletin said it had also been detected in Austria, Belgium, Ireland, Italy, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal, Slovenia, Spain, and the ⁠UK's Jersey.

The virus has several ⁠effects on animals,with affected cattle showing diarrhoea, weakness, loss of appetite and, less often, fever, French animal health authorities said. A study of nine French dairy farms found milk production fell by up to ‌75%.