An individual infected by a variant of the Newcastle disease virus, which is widespread in pigeons, has died from encephalitis. This extremely rare case highlights the importance of monitoring pathogens circulating in animals.

A collaborative study involving the Institut Pasteur, Paris Public Hospital Network (AP-HP), Necker-Enfants Malades Hospital and ANSES recently reported a third human death from encephalitis caused by PPMV-1. This is the first death in France, and the first in an individual not believed to be immunocompromised. "The infectious agent was only identified after the patient's death, using next-generation metagenomic sequencing on port-mortem tissues," explains Nolwenn Dheilly, Head of the Pathogen Discovery laboratory. The subsequent epidemiological investigation revealed that the individual had probably contracted PPMV-1 at a shamanism workshop, where he is thought to have come into contact with bird droppings.

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