The Gods Of The Copybook Headings Return: New Fungal STD Spreads In Minnesota

Another form of immigration afflicts Minnesota. From "New ‘Ringworm’ Outbreak Turns Minnesota Into America’s STD Fungus Hotspot" at Legal Insurrection, we learn that "a fungal infection known as TMVII, [is] currently turning the Twin Cities into ground zero for the nation’s largest known outbreak of a sexually transmitted skin fungus." 

    TMVII, or trichophyton mentagrophytes genotype VII, is the only known fungal-based sexually transmitted disease, according to the Minnesota Department of Health, and it’s treatable with oral antifungals.

    The first case was reported in New York City in 2024, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, with Minnesota’s first reported case in July 2025, when a patient sought treatment for a genital rash.     

As with most STDs new to the U.S., the disease vector is once again from members of the homosexual community that have returned from exotic locales. 

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control describes the infection as “an emerging fungus” that was originally “described in travelers returning from Thailand after sexual contact with sex workers.” It’s since been documented in China and in Europe, and is primarily associated with men who have sex with men.