France has reported the first known human case of death from the Shamonda virus. He is at least the main suspect and authorities are investigating whether the virus contributed to his death. The vector of this pathogen is a Culicoides, a very small and dark insect, approximately 1-3 mm in length.
Culicoides is a genus of biting mosquitoes belonging to the Ceratopogonidae family. Ceratopogonids are popularly known as gnats or rodents, but also as beetles or sucking "bedbugs."
The Culicoides insect genus is known to have hematophagous species, that is, they feed on blood. In reality, both males and females feed on nectar, but it is the females that ingest blood, which is used for the maturation of the fertilized eggs.
Despite their small size, Culicoides are characterized by their annoying and irritating bite. However, they do not bite through clothing because, unlike mosquitoes, they lack a proboscis. Females typically bite at dusk or dawn, often forming dense swarms and usually in the vicinity of bodies of water, swamps or decaying vegetation.
Adults have long antennae that, in males, are densely covered with hair, while in females they have less hair. The thorax has a ringed structure and supports a pair of broad, spotted wings.
Disease-transmitting insect
The importance of many species of the Culicoides genus lies in the fact that they are vectors of various diseases and parasites. These include bluetongue virus, African horse sickness, epizootic hemorrhagic disease or bovine ephemeral fever.
Shamonda belongs to the genus Orthobunyavirus, within the Simbu serogroup, the same family as the Schmallenberg virus. It mainly affects cattle, as well as small ruminants. There is no evidence of significant direct transmission of Shamonda between animals, although the possibility of vertical transmission from the mother to the fetus during pregnancy has been described.
Two genetically differentiated types of this pathogen have been identified circulating in Europe. Shamonda type 1 has been detected mainly in Switzerland, France, southern Germany and Austria. The Shamonda type 2, in Belgium, the Netherlands, northern Germany and northwestern France.
Cows, sheep, goats and even horses
Although the disease mainly affects cows, other species seem to be susceptible to infection, such as sheep and goats (without apparent symptoms) and horses (where neurological signs have been described, although causality has not been proven at the moment).
In cattle, acute infections can occur mainly with fever, a decrease in milk production, between 10 and 20% for 7-10 days, and diarrhea. Morbidity can be very high, affecting up to 100% of the farm, although the majority of adult animals seem to recover.
An approximate duration of 14-21 days of the clinical episode has been described in affected farms in Switzerland. Reproductive repercussions have also been described in pregnant females, since the virus can cross the placenta and infect the fetus, causing abortions or serious fetal malformations.
In Africa since the 60s and now in Europe
Shamonda was first detected in Nigeria in the mid-1960s and, until 2026, had been reported sporadically in different regions of western, eastern and southern Africa, as well as Japan. The virus was first detected in Central Europe during the summer of 2026, with a variant called Shamonda-Europe identified.
The virus has been circulating in France since late July on dairy farms. According to its Ministry of Agriculture, its impact is "at the moment considered low." Since October 19, the French Animal Health Epidemiovigilance Platform (ESA) has identified the virus in livestock in 54 of the country's 101 departments.
