Health authorities in France have reported the death of a “severely immunocompromised” patient infected with the Shamonda virus (SHAV), marking the first reported human case of the virus.
According to AFP, the death was announced on Thursday in a statement released by the French health and agriculture ministries.
The ministries described the human infection as “an exceptional case involving a severely immunocompromised patient”.
French authorities said the patient, who died in early October, was believed to have contracted the virus through the bite of a midge in eastern France, where the virus had been circulating among animals during the spring and summer.
The ministries said “clinical, biological and epidemiological investigations are still ongoing”.
The authorities added that “no health risk to the general public [has been] identified at this time”.
“Despite circulating in Africa and Asia for several decades, the Shamonda virus has never previously been detected in humans,” the statement read.
“The neurological complications observed in the immunocompromised patient prior to his death are very likely linked to infection with the Shamonda virus.”
About the Shamonda Virus
According to the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH), the Shamonda virus is a vector-borne virus belonging to the Orthobunyavirus group.
The virus is transmitted to animals by small, biting insects.
WOAH said the virus was first isolated from cattle in Nigeria in 1965. It was later identified in other parts of Africa and Asia in the early 2000s.
In Europe, clinical signs of the virus in animals were reported from June 2026 and identified in late July, according to the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC).
The ECDC said the virus had been detected in farm animals in Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain and Switzerland, as well as Jersey.
The ECDC said it was engaging with French authorities and European partners to “investigate the potential public health implications of this first human infection”.
