Livestock virus claims first human victim in France

First human case of Shamonda virus detected in France

The full report

The Shamonda virus has been detected in a human for the first time, French health officials said. The victim, who died in early October, was severely immunocompromised. French health officials on Thursday confirmed that they had detected the Shamonda virus in a human — who died early this month — in what they say was the first-ever case of a human contracting the livestock disease.

Despite circulating in Africa and Asia for several decades, the Shamonda virus has never previously been detected in humans, according to France's Ministries of Health and of Agriculture in a joint statement. The World Health Organization (WHO) said the virus was unlikely to spread, stating that 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.

The Shamonda virus is a variant of the Orthobunyavirus, a genus that contains 138 species, and primarily affects livestock, particularly cattle. It is transmitted by culicoides, or biting midges. The virus has been detected in animals in Africa and Japan for years and has been spreading across Europe this year.

Investigations are being carried out by experts in human, animal and environmental health, and authorities at the WHO and European Center for Disease Control have been notified of the incident. The hypothesis is that the case resulted from vector-borne transmission via the bite of a culicoid midge in eastern France, a region where the virus was reported to be circulating among animals in the spring and summer of 2026.