French health authorities have reported the first known human case of the Shomonda virus, stating there is no current threat to the general population. The individual, who passed away in early October, was critically immunocompromised.
On Thursday, French officials confirmed the detection of the Shamonda virus in a human — a person who died at the beginning of this month — marking what they describe as the first documented instance of a human being infected with this livestock-related disease.
In spite of its presence in Africa and Asia for many decades, the Shamonda virus has never before been found in humans,” declared France’s Ministries of Health and Agriculture in a joint statement.
There is currently no identified health risk to the broader public,” they emphasized, noting that the infection was likely “an exceptional occurrence involving a patient with severe immune system deficiency.
How is the Shamonda virus spread?
First discovered in Nigeria during the mid-1960s, the insect-borne Shamonda virus belongs to the Orthobunyavirus genus, which includes 138 known species, and mainly impacts livestock, especially cattle.
It is primarily transmitted by culicoides, commonly known as biting midges.
The virus has long been present in animals across Africa and Japan and has recently begun spreading throughout Europe this year.
Up until this point, it was believed not to be capable of spreading to humans.
As stated in a press release on the Ministry of Agriculture’s website, “Currently, the most likely explanation is that the case occurred through vector-borne transmission, specifically from the bite of a culicoid midge in eastern France—a region where the virus was detected in animals during the spring and summer of 2026.
The ministry noted that specialists in human, animal, and environmental health are conducting biological, clinical, and epidemiological investigations, and confirmed that the incident has been reported to both the World Health Organization and the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control.
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Edited by: Sean Sinico
Author: Jon Shelton (with AFP, Reuters)
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