Published on •Updated
French authorities have confirmed an infection with the Shamonda virus in a patient in Lyon who died in early October, marking the first time the virus has been reported in a human.
Until now, the Shamonda virus was considered not to be transmissible to humans. This case is the first documented and reported detection of the virus in a human.
“This is therefore an exceptional case involving a severely immunocompromised patient,” the authorities said.
The Shamonda virus was detected in Europe for the first time this summer. It belongs to a group of viruses transmitted by biting insects called midges, and until now it has affected mostly cattle, considered the main hosts among infected animal species. Sporadic infections in small ruminants and horses were also reported in France this summer.
The infected patient was a severely immunocompromised patient and had been receiving treatment for a serious illness at the Hospices Civils de Lyon, the French Agriculture Ministry said in a statement.
According to the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC), the specific midge species involved in transmission in this case is still unknown. French authorities say that the hypothesis is that the patient was infected through an insect bite, specifically from a tiny fly, Culicoides midge, in eastern France.
“According to investigations carried out so far, the brain complications observed in the immunocompromised patient before their death were very likely linked to the Shamonda virus infection,” the Ministry said. “Based on current knowledge of the virus, no health risk to the general population has been identified to date”.
Clinical, laboratory and epidemiological investigations are still ongoing to determine whether the virus caused or contributed to the patient’s death and how the infection was acquired, together with the World Health Organization (WHO) and the ECDC.
In infected adult cattle, the main symptoms are fever, lethargy and diarrhoea. In dairy cows, a significant drop in milk production may also be observed, according to Sciensano, Belgium’s national public health institute.
Shamonda virus was first detected in Nigeria in the mid-1960s and has since been reported sporadically in cattle in West, East and southern Africa and in Japan. This summer, it was detected for the first time in Western Europe, with cases reported in Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain and Switzerland, as well as Jersey island.
This story has been updated to include a comment from the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC).