West Nile Virus An increasing number of cases of West Nile Virus (WNV) have been recently reported throughout Europe with cases reported in countries that had previously been unaffected. The FEI supports the vaccination of horses that are due to be travelling through or staying areas in which WNV has been detected.
Shamonda Virus Shamonda virus, is an emerging infectious disease in Europe. The virus was first identified in cattle, in Nigeria, in 1965 and has since been isolated in a number of other countries, affecting horses, goats, sheep and alpaca.
In July 2026, Shamonda virus was isolated for the first time in cattle, in France. It has since been detected in Germany, Switzerland, Netherlands, Belgium, Austria, Lichtenstein and the United Kingdom. Cases have been reported in horses for the first time within Europe, in Switzerland and Germany.
Since Shamonda virus is transmitted via culicoides, horses should be protected using insecticides, vector netting and avoiding exposure to the vector. Infected horses show neurological signs for which there is no specific treatment and a vaccine is not available against the virus. To date, diagnosis has only been possible by carrying out PCR analysis of brain tissue.
Equine Infectious Diseases Reports For further information regarding reported cases of WNV and Shamonda virus can be found on the International Collating Centre’s website, here.
We encourage you to report all outbreaks of equine infectious disease to us via the FEI’s dedicated Equine Infectious Diseases Reporting Form or by emailing This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Any information we receive helps us to determine infectious disease risks to FEI horses and advise our community, accordingly.
