France confirms first recorded human Shamonda virus infection after a patient dies in Lyon; ministry says no public-health risk is identified

French authorities have confirmed that a patient who died in a Lyon hospital in early October was infected with the Shamonda virus, marking the first recorded human case. France’s agriculture ministry said on Thursday that there is currently no identifiable risk to public health.

The authorities’ leading hypothesis is that the patient contracted the virus in eastern France, where it circulated among animals during the spring and summer. Clinical, biological and epidemiological investigations are continuing with experts in human, animal and environmental health.

The virus was first confirmed in Europe in late July, after genomic tests on sick livestock in southern Germany, Switzerland and eastern France. France’s weekly animal health surveillance bulletin has also reported detections in Austria, Belgium, Ireland, Italy, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal, Slovenia, Spain and Jersey.

Shamonda is an orthobunyavirus transmitted mainly by insects, including biting mosquitoes, to animals, particularly livestock. It was first identified in Nigeria in the 1960s and had previously been thought not to be transmissible to humans.