en.malanginspirasi.com – France has confirmed the death of a patient infected with the Shamonda virus, marking the first known human case of the livestock-borne pathogen, Reuters reported.
Despite the fatal outcome, public health officials emphasize that the general public faces no heightened danger.
Government officials stated that the patient likely contracted the virus via a midge bite in eastern France, a region where the pathogen was active among local livestock throughout the spring and summer months.
According to a French health ministry official, the deceased patient was an individual in his 60s from the Lyon region who had been hospitalized for a separate, severe underlying medical condition.
International health agencies are closely tracking the situation.
“Based on current information and knowledge of the transmission of closely related viruses, this is an isolated human case and it is unlikely to lead to wider spread at this time,” said the Geneva-based WHO, which coordinates responses to international public health issues and emergencies.
French health authorities further stressed the unique medical context of the case.
“We are clearly dealing with a case that is unprecedented from a scientific and virological point of view. It is linked to this man’s severely weakened immune system,” Gregory Emery, head of France’s health directorate, told reporters.
“From a medical and public health point of view, there is no alert and no crisis,” he added.
Pathogen Profile and Impact on Agriculture
According to the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH), Shamonda is spread by biting midges.
While it primarily affects cattle, the virus can also infect sheep, goats, horses, and alpacas.
Emery confirmed that there is no evidence indicating the virus can jump from livestock to humans or spread between people.
Virology experts noted that similar historical outbreaks support a low human health risk.
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Dr. Ben Brennan of the University of Glasgow’s Centre for Virus Research pointed to the Schmallenberg virus—which spread among European livestock over ten years ago without infecting humans—and the Cristoli virus, which caused a single death in a vulnerable French patient before disappearing.
Currently, Shamonda is not classified as a disease under the European Union’s Animal Health Law, meaning it is not subject to mandatory surveillance or regulatory controls.
First discovered in Nigeria during the mid-1960s, Shamonda made its initial European appearance in late July after genomic testing identified the virus in ill cattle across southern Germany, Switzerland, and eastern France.
Subsequent reporting in France’s weekly animal health bulletin noted detections in numerous other countries, including Austria, Belgium, Ireland, Italy, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal, Slovenia, Spain, and Jersey.
In livestock, the virus causes symptoms such as weakness, diarrhea, reduced appetite, and occasionally fever.
The agricultural impact can be severe; a study evaluating nine French dairy farms revealed that infection outbreaks caused milk yields to drop by as much as 75 percent.
