Health & Science · October 23, 2026
What is Shamonda, the livestock virus found for the first time in a person in France?
Health authorities in France have reported the first known human case of the Shamonda virus, an orthobunyavirus typically found in livestock. The patient, a severely immunocompromised individual being treated for a serious illness in Lyon, died in early October. While the virus was previously thought to be incapable of infecting humans, the World Health Organization (WHO) and the French Health Ministry have characterized this as an isolated case and maintain that there is no broader risk to the general public. The virus, which is transmitted by biting midges, was first identified in Nigeria in 1965 and was only detected in European livestock for the first time in the summer of 2026.
Read the original coverage
- CNNMainstream
What is Shamonda, the livestock virus found for the first time in a person in France? | CNN
Read at CNN ↗ - MedPage TodayTrade
First Human Case of Livestock Virus Shamonda Reported
Read at MedPage Today ↗ - The GuardianMainstream
Shamonda virus detected in human for first time in France
Read at The Guardian ↗ - PBS NewsNonprofit
France reports first human case of livestock virus Shamonda in patient who later died
Read at PBS News ↗
Reported by multiple outlets
- This is the first known human case of Shamonda virus.
- The patient was located in France and has died.
- The patient was severely immunocompromised.
- Shamonda virus is primarily a livestock virus spread by biting midges.
- Health authorities consider the risk to the general public to be low.
- The virus was first identified in Nigeria in the mid-1960s.
Reported by only some outlets
- The patient was likely infected in eastern France.
- The virus has been linked to neurological symptoms in horses in Switzerland and Germany.
- Shamonda virus can cause abortions and congenital abnormalities in livestock.
- The patient died in early October.
What the evidence actually shows
French health authorities and the WHO found that a livestock virus, Shamonda, infected a human for the first time. The virus is an orthobunyavirus transmitted by midges that was previously not known to affect humans. Authorities determined the patient was severely immunocompromised, leading them to classify the event as an isolated case with negligible risk to the general population.
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