France Confirms First Human Case of Shamonda Virus; Patient Dies

French health authorities confirmed the country’s first reported human case of Shamonda virus on 22 October 2026. The patient died after contracting the virus, which is primarily associated with livestock, particularly cattle.

Shamonda virus is an insect-borne virus transmitted by biting midges. Authorities said the leading hypothesis was that the patient had been infected in eastern France, where the virus had circulated among animals during spring and summer 2026.

Human Case and Public Health Assessment

The case was the first reported human infection with Shamonda virus in France. Before this report, the virus was considered not to infect humans. The reported case establishes that a human infection has occurred, although the precise route of infection has not been established by the information available.

French authorities stated on 22 October 2026 that they assessed the risk to the general population as absent at that stage. The suspected exposure was linked to eastern France, where animal infections had been reported earlier in 2026.

Virus Classification and Transmission

Shamonda virus belongs to the genus Orthobunyavirus, within the family Peribunyaviridae. Orthobunyaviruses are arthropod-borne viruses, also known as arboviruses.

Key characteristics include:

Virus: Shamonda virus
Genus: Orthobunyavirus
Family: Peribunyaviridae
Vector: Biting midges
Primary animal hosts: Livestock, particularly cattle
Transmission: Arthropod-borne; the precise route of infection in the reported French human case remains unestablished.

Animal Detections and Geographic Spread

Shamonda virus was first identified in Nigeria in the mid-1960s. Since then, it has been detected sporadically in animals in parts of Africa and Japan.

Reports in 2026 indicated that the virus was circulating among animals in several European countries. In France, animal circulation was reported in the eastern part of the country during spring and summer 2026, before the first reported human case.