CDC Reports 9 French Cases of Human Dermatophilus Spread Linked to Bathhouses

2 articles · Updated · Queerty · Jun 16

Nine men treated at a Lyon STI clinic appear to mark the first recorded human-to-human transmission of Dermatophilus congolensis, a rare skin infection usually seen in animals.
Seven of the nine said they visited the same local gay bathhouse, while another had visited three Paris bathhouses; none were believed to have had livestock contact or lived in rural areas.
CDC said lesion patterns, overlapping sexual exposures, shared STI histories and close genomic relatedness of isolates strongly support spread within shared exposure networks involving close physical or sexual contact.
One man returned 8 weeks later with new signs after revisiting the same sauna, suggesting reinfection rather than relapse, and all patients responded well to antibiotics.
The report urges clinicians and microbiologists to consider the infection after other tests fail, warning that changing sexual practices in the PrEP era could surface new transmissible skin diseases.