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The Shamonda virus has been detected in a human patient for the first time, French health authorities said on Thursday, following the first ever outbreak of the virus in Europe this summer.
A seriously unwell patient at a hospice in Lyon died in early October after contracting the virus, which had until now been considered non-transmissible to humans, the ministry of agriculture said.
Initial investigations suggest that cerebral complications observed in the immunocompromised patient before his death were “very likely” linked to infection with Shamonda virus.
Despite decades of circulation in Africa and Asia, no human cases had been documented until now. The insect-borne virus, which primarily affects livestock, was seen in Europe for the first time this summer.
Experts believe that higher temperatures in Europe may have contributed to the introduction of the virus to the continent. Western Europe set a new temperature record this year following a summer of heatwaves attributed to climate change.
There is currently no vaccine or antiviral medication available for the Shamonda disease, which has reportedly caused fever, water diarrhoea and a sudden drop in milk yield among anti cattle.
The disease causes discomfort and fever in cattle (stock) (Getty)
But the French authorities assessed that no health risk to the general population has been identified to date. And the virus is not thought to be fatal in cattle, according to the British Agriculture Bureau.
The Shamonda virus was identified in Britain in August, according to the UK Animal and Plant Health Agency, noting the “potential for further spread across north-west Europe”.
They said abortions have been documented in infected cattle and noted concerns that infection during pregnancy could result in congential abnormalities. The disease has also been detected in sheep, goats, horses and alpacas, they said.
First identified in Nigeria in the mid-1960s, the Shamonda has since been detected sporadically in animals in Africa and Japan.
But it only appeared in Europe for the first time this summer, including on cattle farms, French authorities said. The virus has also been detected in Germany and Switzerland.
Martin Beer, head of diagnostic virology at Germany’s Friedrich Loeffler Institute, told Vet Record last month that the hotter weather seen this year may have contributed, in part, to the virus reaching Europe.
“We have to be really careful, because it would have been so many factors coming together to influence this, but an additional factor could be temperature,” he said.
He pointed to the exceptionally high number of hot days in Germany recorded over the summer, adding: “These are temperatures like those you see in Africa and what viruses like is high temperatures.”
Despite decades of circulation in Africa and Asia, no human cases had been documented until now (file) (AFP/Getty)
The leading hypothesis is that the Lyon patient may have been infected in eastern France, where the virus had been circulating among animals over the summer.
Clinical, biological, and epidemiological investigations are still underway, the French health authorities said in a statement on Thursday.
“Despite decades of circulation of the Shamonda virus in Africa and Asia, no human cases had been documented until now. This is therefore an exceptional case occurring in a severely immunocompromised patient,” the department said.
“As a reminder, and based on current knowledge about this virus, no health risk to the general population has been identified to date.”
British farmers with livestock with suspected Shamonda-like virus infection, have been advised to contact their local Veterinary Investigation Centre for advice and further investigation.
Shamonda is an insect-borne Orthobunyavirus belonging to the Simbu serogroup and genetically related to the Schmallenberg virus.
