For six decades, Shamonda virus stayed quietly inside cattle. Then, on 22 October 2026, French health and agriculture authorities announced the first human infection ever documented: a severely immunocompromised patient treated in Lyon, who died in early October.

A first case, with questions still open

The joint statement reported the first formally recorded human infection with Shamonda virus (SHAV). The patient was being treated in Lyon for a serious illness that had left them severely immunocompromised, and died in early October.

Preliminary investigations suggest that brain complications before the patient's death were very likely linked to the infection. But the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) stresses that whether the virus caused or contributed to the death — and how the infection was acquired — is still under investigation.

What the Shamonda virus is

Shamonda virus is an orthobunyavirus in the Simbu serogroup: a segmented, negative-sense single-stranded RNA virus with three segments, L, M and S. It was first isolated from cattle in Nigeria in the mid-1960s, and has since been reported sporadically in cattle in parts of Africa and in Japan. Cattle are considered its main host.

A bite from a biting midge

Shamonda virus is an arbovirus: it spreads between animals through bites from blood-feeding midges of the genus Culicoides. French authorities suspect the patient was bitten by an infected midge in eastern France, a territory where the virus circulated in animals during spring and summer 2026. The specific midge species involved in this case has yet to be confirmed.

The jump to Europe in 2026

Summer 2026 brought the virus's first detection in European farm animals: clinical signs were reported from June, and the virus was identified in late July. It has since been found in farm animals in Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Switzerland and Jersey.

What the risk is

French authorities describe the case as exceptional, occurring in a severely immunocompromised patient. Based on current knowledge, no public health risk to the general population has been identified. ECDC is working with the relevant EU reference laboratory to strengthen testing capacity and support member states in identifying any other potential cases.

Shamonda virus spent sixty years infecting cattle before a single patient in Lyon showed that the list of species it can reach is longer than anyone had recorded. It travels on the mouthparts of insects you barely notice — which is a good reason to look closely at what blood-feeding insects actually look like.

Want to see the kind of insect that carries viruses like this one? With WWAI, you can examine a Culex Mosquito specimen under a virtual microscope — segmented body, wing venation and piercing mouthparts — the moment curiosity strikes, with no physical microscope needed. Just search "WWAI" in your app store to download.

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References

European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC). Severely ill patient in France becomes first ever human infected with Shamonda virus. 22 October 2026. https://www.ecdc.europa.eu/en/news-events/severely-ill-patient-france-becomes-first-ever-human-infected-shamonda-virus

Kelleci M, et al. Detection of a novel Shamonda Orthobunyavirus in dairy cattle, France, June 2026. Euro Surveill. 2026;31(33):2600689. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC13498902/

Goller KV, et al. Schmallenberg Virus as Possible Ancestor of Shamonda Virus. Emerg Infect Dis. 2012. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3471646/