France Reports World's First Recorded Human Case of Shamonda Virus; Patient Died Earlier This Month
PARIS — French health authorities said in a communique on Oct. 22 that the country has identified the world's first formally recorded human case of Shamonda virus infection. The patient died earlier this month.
Shamonda virus belongs to the orthobunyavirus genus and is transmitted to animals mainly by blood-feeding midges of the genus Culicoides. The virus was first discovered in Nigeria in the mid-1960s, with sporadic reports since in cattle herds in West, East and Southern Africa as well as Japan. According to French animal health authorities, its effects on animals include diarrhea, weakness and loss of appetite, and fever in rare cases.
The communique said there had never been a recorded human infection before this case. The patient had been treated at a hospital in Lyon, France, for a severe illness before death. Preliminary investigation suggests the patient's brain complications were likely linked to the Shamonda virus infection, though clinical, biological and epidemiological investigations are ongoing. This summer, the virus was detected for the first time in cattle farms in France and other European countries. Health authorities suspect the patient may have been bitten by a virus-carrying midge in eastern France.
French health authorities described it as an exceptional case in a severely immunocompromised individual, adding that investigations are continuing and that the World Health Organization and the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control have been notified.
The ECDC said in a communique the same day that it was closely monitoring the situation. The patient's severely impaired immune function had raised the risk of infection, the center noted, and
investigations are underway into whether the virus was the direct cause of death or a contributing factor, and into the route of infection.
Source: GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：库蠓Culicoides imicola显微照片（资料图）。照片：Alan R Walker，CC BY-SA 3.0，经Wikimedia Commons。Photo: The biting midge Culicoides imicola under a microscope (file photo). Photo: Alan R Walker, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
