by Prof. H. Fleury, MD, PhD, University of Bordeaux and Ventum Biotech
Alexandre Kachou, CEO & CTO of Ventum Biotech
French authorities have confirmed the first documented human infection with Shamonda virus. The patient, who was severely immunocompromised, was being treated in Lyon and died of encephalitis in early October.
Shamonda virus was first identified in Nigeria in 1965. It belongs to the orthobunyavirus genus, the same group as Oropouche virus, which has recently caused human infections in French Guiana and parts of South America. Cattle are the main reservoir. Horses, sheep and goats can also be infected. The virus is transmitted by Culicoides biting midges.
Shamonda was confirmed in European cattle this summer, first in France, Germany and Switzerland, and has since been detected in several other countries. Health authorities consider this an isolated case and see no risk to the general population at this stage. PCR can be used for diagnosis. There is currently no treatment or vaccine.
This case is one more example of an animal virus spilling over to humans. It shows why tracking pathogens in their animal reservoirs matters.
Sources: World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH); European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC), 22 October 2026.
