‘Rain rot’ STI detected in UK as Europe outbreak spreads – 4 subtle signs on your skin

A BACTERIAL skin infection dubbed ‘rain rot’ disease has been detected in the UK as cases surge across Europe. Clusters of the infection, known as dermatophilosis, were reported in mainland Europe earlier this summer, but the latest updates now show that the disease has now been spotted in the UK. Picture of a person in France diagnosed with the skin infection Credit: CDC It causes rashes and pus-filled spots that crust ove Credit: CDC The skin infection, which causes pus-filled spots and rashes, is rare in adults and is usually only spotted in people who have touched infected livestock or wildlife. But recent reports suggest it’s increasingly being spread through sex, among people who have had no contact with animals. Sign up for the Health newsletter Thank you! As of mid June, 70 confirmed cases were reported in six countries – France, Germany, Spain, Sweden, Norway and Austria – followed by reports of six cases in Switzerland in July. But now, updated information from last week has revealed that one case has been confirmed in the UK, along with three in the Netherlands and one in Denmark. According to a report in the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC), cases have predominantly been reported among gay and bisexual men who have sex with other men. The cases were often reported after “recent attendance at sex-on-premises venues” including saunas. No further information is currently known about the confirmed case in the UK. Dermatophilosis is a disease caused by the dermatophilus congolensis bacteria that usually affects cows, sheep and horses. Most read in Health Experts in Europe have increasingly observed human-to-human transmission of the bacteria, the National Institute for Public Health and the Environment says. The cases across Europe this year have been mild skin infections occurring in multiple sites across the body, including the genitals, thighs, groin and beard area, according to the ECDC. A patient in Barcelona, Spain, with the same skin infection Credit: CDC Experts say the cases are being seen more often from human-to-human contact Credit: CDC Patients have recovered after topical or oral antibiotic treatment with no serious complications, it said. Commenting on the recent outbreak, the ECDC said: “The increase in cases across multiple European countries, together with epidemiologicallinks and genomic relatedness between isolates, supports a change in the observed epidemiology and is consistent with human-to-human transmission through close skin-to-skin contact.” While most of the cases have been linked to men who have sex with men, this is not the only way people have been exposed to the infection recently. The outbreak in Basel, Switzerland, began after a man attended a Muay Thai camp in Thailand in May 2025. A second case was then reported in a man after travel to Indonesia the next month. Five months later, four more men with no travel history abroad developed symptoms of the skin infection – including lesions on their genitals and groin area. Ten cases reported in Norway were linked to an outbreak among martial arts practitioners in summer 2025 as well as an additional case from martial arts training in Thailand in December 2025. The ECDC said this shows that there are “two main contexts of transmission: clusters among gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men, often associated with sex-on-premises venues such as saunas,and clusters or sporadic cases among people practising contact sports or martial arts, including travel-associated cases linked to South-East Asia.” The skin infection is typically seen in people after they come into contact with infected animals, including horses, cows and sheep Credit: Alamy Dermatophillosis symptoms The main symptom of dermatophilosis tends to be a rash made up of pus-filled spots that can crust over. A rash or skin changes Bumps or pus-filled spots Crusted skin lesions Itching In patients who’ve contracted dermatophilosis after sexual contact, the rash, spots and crusty lesions tend to appear on the genitals and face. They stressed, however, that the overall risk to the general population “remains very low.” “For gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men with multiple sexual partners, the overall risk remains low; within this group the probability of exposure is moderate among those attending sex-on-premises venues,” it said. And the agency added: “People participating in close-contact sports or activities, particularly in humid settings or where skin lesions and shared surfaces are present, may also be at increased exposure risk. “However, the available evidence is still limited.” Researchers have said that dermatophilosis should no longer be regarded as a disease that primarily infects animals and only occasionally appears in humans. They have called for clinicians to be aware of symptoms of the skin infection when treating travellers returning from tropical regions or men who have sex with men. They also called for the rapid development of a European-wide scheme to keep track of transmission of this infection. Comment now