Health authorities have reported that a patient with severe immunosuppression, treated at the Hospices Civils de Lyon for a serious illness, was infected with the Shamonda virus. The patient died in early October. Clinical, biological, and epidemiological investigations are still underway, following a "One Health" approach that combines expertise in human, animal, and environmental health. Based on current knowledge about this virus, no health risk to the general population has been identified to date.
Shamonda virus is an orthobunyavirus transmitted to animals by biting midges of the genus Culicoides.
It was first detected in Nigeria in the mid-1960s and has been reported sporadically in cattle in West, East, and Southern Africa, as well as in Japan.
In the summer of 2026, it was identified for the first time in Europe, including France, on cattle farms.
Cattle are considered the primary host among the animal species that can be infected.
Sporadic cases of infection in small ruminants and equines were also identified this summer in France.
Until now, the Shamonda virus was considered non-transmissible to humans.
This patient's infection with the Shamonda virus thus constitutes the first documented and reported detection of the virus in humans.
At this stage of the investigations, the hypothesis is that of vector contamination of the case, by the bite of a Culicoides type midge in the East of France, territory reporting circulation of the virus in animals in spring / summer 2026.
Furthermore, according to investigations already carried out, the cerebral complications observed in the immunocompromised patient before his death were very likely linked to infection with the Shamonda virus.
Despite decades of circulation of the Shamonda virus in Africa and Asia, no human cases had been documented until now.
This is therefore an exceptional case occurring in a severely immunocompromised patient.
As a reminder, and based on current knowledge about this virus, no health risk to the general population has been identified to date.
The French health authorities have also notified international health bodies, the World Health Organization (WHO) and the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC).
Clinical, biological and epidemiological investigations are continuing in conjunction with expertise in human, animal and environmental health.
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