France reports first human Shamonda virus case, says no health risk

Until now, the virus was considered non-transferable to humans, making the patient the first documented human case.Published On 22 Oct 202622 Oct 2026French authorities have confirmed that a patient who died at a Lyon hospital earlier in October was infected with the Shamonda virus, the first such report of the virus in a human.In a statement on Thursday, the French Ministry of Agriculture stressed that there were no identifiable health risks to the general population at this time.Recommended Stories list of 4 itemslist 1 of 4Russia denies imposing anti-plague measures after lab worker deathlist 2 of 4Conflict, drought increasing risk of famine in Sudan: Monitorlist 3 of 4Sweet scoop: Ice-cream study points to potential sugar substitutelist 4 of 4Namibia battles cattle disease outbreak as EU suspends several meat importsend of listShamonda is an orthobunyavirus – a group of viruses primarily carried and spread by insects – transmitted to animals, mainly cattle, by biting midges of the genus Culicoides.It was first detected in Nigeria in the 1960s, but has since been reported sporadically in East and Southern Africa, as well as Japan.Until now, the virus was considered non-transmiss...