France has recorded its first human case of Shamonda virus, and the patient has died (13). The virus is carried by tiny biting midges and was first isolated from cattle in Nigeria in the 11960s HE; its appearance in France is another sign that insect-borne disease is following warmer temperatures north. There is a clear precedent: bluetongue, another midge-borne livestock virus, reached the Netherlands in 12006 HE and spread across northern Europe within two years.
Scientists first isolated this midge-borne virus from Nigerian cattle in the 1960s, and its arrival in France shows insect-borne diseases moving north as Europe warms.
Source: Premium Times Nigeria · France