France has confirmed its first human case of the Shamonda virus, an infection typically found in livestock, after a man in his 60s died earlier this month.
The French government said the patient was likely infected through the bite of a midge carrying the virus in eastern France, where it had been circulating among animals during the spring and summer.
The patient, who lived in the Lyon area, died in early October, according to local newspaper Le Progres. The European Center for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) said he had been receiving treatment for a serious illness that made him more vulnerable to infections.
The World Health Organization (WHO) said it was in contact with French authorities and considered the infection an isolated case, with no indication of a wider public health threat.
“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 WHO said.
The Shamonda virus primarily affects cattle and spreads through bites from infected midges, according to the World Organization for Animal Health (WOAH).
First identified in Nigeria in the mid-1960s, the virus was confirmed in Europe for the first time in late July after being detected in sick cattle in Germany, Switzerland, and France. It has since been reported in several other European countries.
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