Health and agricultural authorities in France have confirmed the death of a patient infected with the Shamonda virus in the Lyon region, marking the first time the pathogen has ever been detected in a human.
The patient, a man in his 60s, was severely immunocompromised and undergoing treatment for a serious underlying medical condition prior to his death in early October. Medical experts reported that the patient suffered neurological and cerebral complications before passing away, which preliminary epidemiological assessments suggest were very likely linked to the viral infection.
The leading hypothesis among health investigators is that the man contracted the pathogen after being bitten by an infected Culicoides midge while in eastern France, where the virus had been circulating among livestock over the spring and summer months.
International public health organisations, including the World Health Organization (WHO) and the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC), stated that the case represents an isolated human incident and poses no elevated risk to the broader public.
The Shamonda virus, an insect-borne pathogen belonging to the Orthobunyavirus genus, was first identified in Nigeria in the mid-1960s and traditionally infects farm animals, including cattle, sheep, goats, and horses.
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