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.

Aubrac cows graze in a meadow in Aubrac, southern France, on May 19, 2022 [Lionel Bonaventure/AFP]

French 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.

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Shamonda 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-transmissible to humans, making the patient in France the first documented human case.

The French announcement said the leading hypothesis was that the patient was infected in eastern France, where the virus had circulated among animals this spring and summer.

“Clinical, biological and epidemiological investigations are continuing in conjunction with expertise in human, animal and environmental health,” the statement added.

Shamonda was first confirmed in Europe in late July after genomic tests on sick cattle in southern Germany, Switzerland and eastern France.

A report from France’s ‌weekly animal health surveillance bulletin said the virus had also been detected in Austria, Belgium, Ireland, Italy, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal, Slovenia, Spain, and the United Kingdom’s Jersey.

此前，该病毒被认为不会传染给人类，因此该患者是首例有记录的人类病例。

2022年5月19日，法国南部奥布拉克，奥布拉克牛在草地上吃草。[Lionel Bonaventure/AFP]

法国当局已证实，10 月初在里昂一家医院去世的一名患者感染了沙蒙达病毒，这是该病毒首次在人类身上发现。

法国农业部周四发表声明强调，目前尚未发现对普通民众构成任何可识别的健康风险。

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沙蒙达病毒是一种正布尼亚病毒——这是一类主要由昆虫携带和传播的病毒——通过库蠓属的蠓虫叮咬传播给动物，主要是牛。

该病毒最早于 20 世纪 60 年代在尼日利亚被发现，但此后在东非和南部非洲以及日本均有零星报道。

此前，该病毒被认为不会传染给人类，因此法国的这名患者是首例有记录的人类病例。

法国方面宣布，目前最主要的推测是，该患者是在法国东部感染的，今年春夏两季，该病毒在法国东部的动物中传播。

声明还补充说：“我们正在结合人类、动物和环境健康方面的专业知识，继续开展临床、生物学和流行病学调查。”

沙蒙达病毒于 7 月下旬在欧洲首次被确诊，此前对德国南部、瑞士和法国东部的患病牛进行了基因组检测。

法国每周发布的动物健康监测公报称，奥地利、比利时、爱尔兰、意大利、列支敦士登、卢森堡、荷兰、葡萄牙、斯洛文尼亚、西班牙和英国泽西岛也检测到了该病毒。