France Records World's First Human Case of Shamonda Virus

French health authorities reported on 22 October 2026 that a severely immunocompromised patient being treated for a serious underlying illness at a hospital in Lyon had been infected with Shamonda virus — marking the first documented human case of the disease anywhere in the world. The patient died in early October. Shamonda is an orthobunyavirus, a group of viruses primarily spread by Culicoides biting midges; it had previously been considered non-transmissible to humans. The virus was first identified in Nigeria in the mid-1960s and was detected in European livestock — in cattle in southern Germany, Switzerland and eastern France — for the first time in late July 2026, then spread to several other European countries and Jersey. French health and agriculture authorities stressed that the case appeared to be exceptional given the patient's extreme immune vulnerability, and that there was no identifiable public-health risk to the general population. The World Health Organisation and European health agencies were notified and began monitoring the situation. The story was covered prominently by Al Jazeera, France 24, PBS NewsHour and UN News on 22–23 October 2026.