The fungal skin infection TMVII is spreading in Minnesota through direct contact. Health experts advise medical care for round, red rashes that can be painful or itchy.

Minnesota health officials are warning of an outbreak of a contagious fungal skin infection.

The condition is triggered by Trichophyton mentagrophytes genotype VII (TMVII), the same fungal species that causes ringworm.

The primary symptom is round, red, irritated rashes that spread across the body, which can be itchy and painful, according to the state’s health alert.

“TMVII is a specific type of fungus that is part of a larger family that causes the usually benign but irksome conditions such as ringworm, jock itch and athlete’s foot,” Dr. Hayden Andrews, an infectious disease expert at UT Southwestern Medical Center, told Fox News Digital.

Source: State confirms outbreak of sexually transmitted fungal infection, experts urge caution