The virus is mainly found in livestock, especially cattle, sheep, goats, horses and alpacas.

It is thought to be spread by the bites of midges – tiny biting flies – though the World Health Organization (WHO) has said further studies are needed to understand how it is transmitted.

There are currently no commercially available vaccines against Shamonda virus, according to the internationally recognised World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH).

Vulnerable patient

The unidentified patient, who died in early October, had been receiving treatment for a serious illness and was immunocompromised, making him more vulnerable to infection than the general public, according to a statement from the French health and agriculture ministries.

French authorities say that no health risk to the general public has been identified so far.

He had been in an area where the virus was circulating among animals and where Culicoides midges were present, WHO said.

The UN health agency’s Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus expressed his condolences to the man’s loved ones.

He said WHO was working with French authorities to establish how the patient became infected, possible routes of transmission and any potential risk to public health.