France reports first human death from Shamonda virus, a cattle pathogen, in Lyon

A first human case

French health authorities announced on Thursday, 22 October, that a patient infected with the Shamonda virus had died in France. The man had a severe immune deficiency and was treated at the Hospices Civils de Lyon for a serious illness before he died in early October. The French Ministry of Agriculture called the case exceptional, and the investigation into it is still under way.

The announcement marks the first documented detection of the virus in a human. Until now the virus had been regarded as non-transmissible to people, a point the French Ministry of Health stressed in its statement.

“The Shamonda virus was until now considered non-transmissible to humans.”

How the infection may have occurred

The main hypothesis is that the patient was bitten by an infected midge in eastern France, where the virus had circulated among animals in spring and summer 2026. The ministry's statement, as reported in the first findings, says complications affecting the brain that appeared before his death were most likely linked to the Shamonda infection. Authorities stressed that, on the information available so far, there is no risk for the general population. Clinical, biological and epidemiological investigations are still ongoing.

A cattle virus with a long history

The virus was first identified in Nigeria in the mid-1960s and has since been reported only sporadically, mainly in animals in Africa and Japan. It belongs to the Orthobunyavirus genus and is spread mainly by biting midges of the Culicoides genus. Cattle are its main host, and infected animals can develop fever, diarrhoea and weakness, and produce much less milk. In pregnant females the infection can also be associated with abortions and foetal malformations. Sheep and goats can be infected too, usually without obvious clinical signs.

Spread across Europe

According to the French farming publication Réussir, as cited by Mediafax, the virus was first found in Europe in late July, in Germany and Switzerland. Since then it has spread to 51 French departments as well as to Austria, Belgium, Italy, Spain, Ireland and Portugal. Sheep, goats, horses and alpacas have also been found to carry it. In Portugal, the Ordem dos Médicos Veterinários confirmed the virus's presence in October, according to Notícias ao Minuto. In its note, the order stressed the question of risk to people.

“There is no evidence that the Shamonda virus is zoonotic, and no known risk of transmission to humans.”

Open questions

No vaccine or treatment for the virus exists yet. Authorities in several countries say that milk and meat from animals pose no risk to consumers. The announcement concerns one documented human infection, and the investigations in France remain open.