An outbreak of Shamonda virus was detected in cows in Europe in July and is continuing.Credit: Charly Triballeau/AFP via Getty
A cancer sufferer in France has become the first person known to have contracted the Shamonda virus, after an outbreak in livestock in Europe was first identified in July. The man, aged in his 60s, died on October 9, 16 days after he began exhibiting neurological symptoms, including vision loss and confusion, according to a case report published in Eurosurveillance this week1. Infectious disease researchers say little is known about the virus or its effects on the body.
The man lived in a rural area in the Rhône-Alpes region, where the Shamonda virus was detected in cattle. He likely became infected after being bitten by midges, the report said.
It’s also possible that he contracted the virus by eating contaminated food or through a blood transfusion or transplant, although the report’s authors say those routes are less likely. “Investigations are underway to exclude them,” they write. Researchers say the risk of transmitting the virus between people is low.
Shamonda virus belongs to a family of viruses called orthobunyaviruses, known to infect animals such as cows and deer, and transmitted by mosquitoes and midges, says Krispin Hajkowicz, an infectious disease researcher at the University of Queensland, Australia. There is no vaccine or antiviral treatment for orthobunyaviruses, Hajkowicz says.
More and more orthobunyaviruses are being detected in humans, says Daniel Rawle, a virologist at the QIMR Berghofer Institute of Medical Research in Brisbane, Australia. Climate change and increased contact between wildlife, livestock and humans are some of the factors that have increased the risk of people becoming infected. Another factor is that an increasing number of people are immunocompromised and therefore are at greater risk of becoming infected and developing life-threatening symptoms. Although no human-to-human transmission has been recorded for these viruses, during an outbreak of an orthobunyavirus called Oropouche in Brazil in 2024, transmission was reported between pregnant women and their fetuses.
Genetic testing
In France, the severely immunocompromised individual with leukemia began having seizures shortly after symptoms appeared and fell into a coma, requiring intubation and mechanical ventilation. When his symptoms did not improve after treatment with antibiotics, an antiviral drug and high doses of corticosteroids, he was taken off life support.
Gn Health
