France has reported the world’s first documented human infection with Shamonda virus (Shav) in a patient with a severely weakened immune system who died in early October.

According to a BBC report, French health authorities said it was an “exceptional case in a severely immunocompromised patient” and there was currently no risk to the public.

Shav is a disease that primarily affects cattle and can be spread by infected midges. Cases have also occurred in sheep, goats, alpacas and horses, but infections in people were previously unheard of.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) and European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) said they were monitoring the situation, with French officials still investigating how the virus had spread to a human.

In a post on his official X account, WHO Director-General, Tedros Ghebreyesus, said the agency was working with French authorities to establish the source of the infection, possible routes of transmission and any potential public health risks.

Mr Ghebreyesus said the French patient was in an area where the Shamonda virus was circulating in animals and where Culicoides midges were also present.

“WHO is in contact with French authorities who are collecting information to better understand the source of infection in the first human patient, possible routes of transmission and any potential risk to public health,” he said.

What is Shamonda virus?

Shamonda virus primarily affects animals, particularly cattle, and spreads between animals through the bites of infected Culicoides midges, small biting insects. It has also been detected in sheep, goats and horses.

The virus was first identified in Nigeria in the 1960s and has circulated in parts of Africa and Asia for decades without any previously documented human infection.

French authorities believe the patient may have contracted the virus through a midge bite in eastern France, where infections had been detected in animals during the spring and summer.

The patient was receiving treatment for a ‘serious’ illness at a hospital in Lyon when he/she developed neurological complications that preliminary findings suggested were very likely linked to the virus.

Investigations are continuing to determine how the infection occurred and whether the virus contributed to the patient’s death.

Emerging disease concerns

The development comes amid international attention to other infectious disease threats this year, including hantavirus and Ebola.

Hantavirus is a group of viruses primarily transmitted to humans through contact with infected rodents or their urine, droppings and saliva. Depending on the strain, infection can cause severe respiratory illness or affect the kidneys.

In May, a cluster of hantavirus infections linked to a cruise ship prompted an international response after three people died among 13 reported cases. The outbreak was declared over in July.

Ebola, meanwhile, causes a severe illness that can include fever, vomiting, diarrhoea and, in some cases, internal or external bleeding. The disease spreads through direct contact with the blood or other bodily fluids of infected people and contaminated materials.

Nigeria confirmed an imported case of Ebola caused by the Bundibugyo virus in the Federal Capital Territory on 20 October, following an outbreak that began in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and spread to other countries.

The WHO has said the Shamonda virus case appears isolated based on current evidence, although investigations into how the patient became infected and the potential public health implications are continuing.