The French health authorities reported the first documented human case of infection with the Shamonda virus, a pathogen that until now had been detected only in animals. The patient died in early October and had severe immunodeficiency while undergoing treatment for another illness.
According to preliminary investigations, the infection could be related to brain complications the man suffered prior to his death. However, the extent of this finding is still under study. For now, authorities indicated that no risk to the health of the general population had been identified.
What is the Shamonda virus
The Shamonda virus is a pathogen identified for the first time in Nigeria in the mid-1960s. Since then, there have been sporadic cases in animals, mainly cattle, in various regions of Africa and also in Japan.
It belongs to the bunyavirus group and is closely related to Schmallenberg virus, detected in Europe in 2011 and associated with diseases in livestock, especially reproductive problems and congenital malformations in cattle and sheep.
Until the case reported in France, the Shamonda virus had been associated with animal infections. Therefore, its detection in a person represents a finding that will need to be studied to better understand its capacity to infect humans.
How Shamonda virus is transmitted
The main known route of transmission is the bite of small insects of the genus Culicoides, commonly known as biting midges. Although they are sometimes confused with mosquitoes, they are different insects that can act as vectors and transmit the virus to susceptible animals.
In the case recorded in France, the initial hypothesis is that the patient contracted the virus after a biting insect carrying it bit him in the eastern part of the country. Nonetheless, this explanation is part of the preliminary investigations.
Professor Ben Brennan, a researcher at the MRC Virology Research Centre and the University of Glasgow, explained that Shamonda virus is closely related to Schmallenberg virus and that both are primarily associated with livestock and are transmitted through biting insects.
What is known about the risk to people
The patient who contracted the infection had severe immunodeficiency and was receiving treatment in Lyon for another serious illness. Preliminary investigations indicated that the brain complications observed before his death could have been related to the virus.
However, this isolated case does not allow us to determine how the pathogen behaves in the general population or what consequences an infection might have for people with other health conditions.
Brennan warned that detecting the virus in a person with a severely compromised immune system does not necessarily mean it poses a significant risk for those in good health. He also noted that, to date, there is no evidence that the Shamonda virus causes a widespread disease in humans.
French authorities notified the case to the World Health Organization (WHO) and the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC). As investigations continue, the finding will help deepen knowledge about this virus and its potential ability to infect people.
