what microbe causes shingles
1 Shingles in caused by the same virus that causes chickenpox-varicella-zoster virus. 2  Shingles is a painful infection of the nerve supplying an area of skin and is accompanied by a localised skin rash.3  Older people and those with a weakened immune system are at greater risk for developing shingles.hingles is an infection of a nerve and the surrounding skin surface that is supplied by the nerve, caused by the varicella-zoster virus.