First person infected with rare Shamonda virus: what we know Infectious-disease researchers say the risk of the livestock pathogen moving between people is low. By Rachel Fieldhouse

https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-026-03416-1?utm_source=Live+Audience&utm_campaign=8cc2b96d1b-nature-briefing-daily-20261023&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_-33f35e09ea-50432164 What we know about Shamonda virus The first human death has been attributed to a newly discovered type of orthobunyavirus that has been making cows ill in Europe. The man, who was in his 60s and lived in rural France, had a severely weakened immune system because of blood cancer. The virus, Shamonda virus Europe 1 (SHAV-EU1), was detected in Europe for the first time in July 2026 in cattle — around the same time that the man is thought to have been infected. Little is known about the virus or how it affects the body, but experts say that the risk of infections passing between people is low.