France reports first human case of Shamonda virus, but says there's no public health risk

French health authorities said Thursday that the Shamonda virus, which usually affects livestock, had been detected in a human for the first time in a severely immunocompromised patient who died earlier this month. There was "no health risk to the general public identified at this time", the health and agriculture ministries said in a joint statement. It added that the human infection appeared to be "an exceptional case involving a severely immunocompromised patient" hospitalised for a serious medical condition. "Despite circulating in Africa and Asia for several decades, the Shamonda virus has never previously been detected in humans," the ministries said. The virus, which belongs to the Orthobunyavirus group, was first detected in Europe this summer, they said. Read moreFrance confirms first Ebola case in doctor returning from DR Congo mission Transmitted by biting ​midges and ‌most commonly found in cattle, Shamonda has also been found ⁠in horses, alpaca, sheep and goats, the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH) said. At this stage in the investigation, the patient was believed to have contracted the virus through the bite of a midge in eastern France, where the virus was...