France has recorded the first known human infection with Shamonda virus, and the patient has died, authorities confirmed.
The victim, who passed away in October, had been battling a serious underlying illness that left them especially vulnerable to infections, the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control said in a statement this week. Until this case, the insect-borne pathogen had been considered non-transmissible to humans, according to the French government.
Shamonda virus belongs to the Orthobunyavirus family and spreads through biting midges, tiny insects that typically infect livestock rather than people. In cattle, the virus causes fever, diarrhea and reduced milk production. The World Organisation for Animal Health noted that no commercially available vaccines exist against it.
The ECDC emphasized that the general population faces no identified health risk from this single case. “Investigations into whether the virus caused or contributed to the patient’s death and how the infection was acquired are ongoing,” the agency’s statement continued. French public health authorities are probing how the patient was exposed and what role, if any, the virus played in their death.
Dr Ben Brennan, a senior lecturer and group leader at the MRC-University of Glasgow Centre for Virus Research, called the finding “an important scientific finding” in comments shared through the Science Media Centre. “However, it is important to put this into perspective. The patient had a serious underlying illness that left them particularly vulnerable to infections, and we do not yet know whether Shamonda virus contributed to their death,” he added.
“Finding a virus in a severely immunocompromised patient does not necessarily mean it poses a significant risk to otherwise healthy individuals.”
Dr Brennan continued: “At present, there is no evidence that Shamonda virus causes widespread human disease, although further investigation is needed to understand its ability to infect people.”
He stressed that the virus has circulated in animals for many years without previously jumping to humans, and that normal transmission occurs through midges rather than person-to-person contact. “There is currently no evidence of sustained transmission between humans, and the virus is normally spread through biting midges rather than everyday contact between people,” he explained.
Dr Brennan also addressed public concern directly, stating there is “no reason for the general UK public to be unduly concerned.” He characterized the case as “a single reported human infection in someone who was already seriously ill and immunocompromised.”
“While this discovery warrants further scientific investigation and continued surveillance, it does not currently suggest a significant new public health threat to the UK,” he said. “For most people, there is no reason to change their normal activities or take additional precautions.”
The ECDC said it is “carefully monitoring the situation” as French investigators work to determine the circumstances of the infection.