France reports first human Shamonda virus case, says no health risk
Until now, the virus was considered non-transferable to humans, making the patient the first documented human case.
France has confirmed the first documented human case of the Shamonda virus, announcing on Thursday that a patient who died at a hospital in Lyon earlier in October tested positive for the pathogen.
In a statement, the French Ministry of Agriculture stressed that no identified health risk had emerged from the case, seeking to reassure the public even as the finding marks a scientific first.
Until now, Shamonda was considered non-transmissible to humans. The virus is an orthobunyavirus — a group of pathogens primarily carried and spread by insects — and was first detected in Nigeria in the 1960s. Since then it has been reported only sporadically in parts of Africa, and never before in a person.
The leading hypothesis, according to the French announcement, is that the patient was infected in eastern France. Clinical, biological and epidemiological investigations are continuing alongside expert teams to establish exactly how transmission occurred.
The human case follows the virus's recent arrival in Europe: Shamonda was first confirmed on the continent in late July, after genomic testing on sick cattle in southern Germany. France's weekly animal health surveillance bulletin has since also detected the virus in livestock.
Health authorities said the case does not change the overall risk assessment for the public. Investigations are continuing, and officials say further updates will follow as experts piece together how a virus long thought incapable of infecting humans made the jump.
Source: Al Jazeera English — TrendWire reports stories in its own words; facts should be confirmed against the original source.