Herpes Without Genital Or Mouth Cold Sore?

My husband has had a weird infection under his nail for years, it comes and goes. Swollen, gross rash, then normal for a while, then flare. After every known treatment for nail infections failed, we found a doctor that said it was a herpes viral infection, that it was likely a form of the herpes encephalitis virus, not herpes simplex virus and that it didn't come from a sexual situation, but likely droplets or contact, which makes sense because he worked in a mancamp for a long time that was very unclean and they got all kinds of junk from each other for lack of hand washing, etc. Anyway, the doc said not to worry about the finger infection spreading unless the sores are open. Not long after he got a skin rash on his back and was diagnosed with shingles, but the rash comes back every now and then and has spread to a small area near his armpit. We don't live in the same state anymore, so we can't go back to that doctor. But recently, a friend of mine in medical school showed us a picture of a herpes encephalitis rash on a man's lower back that he saw in a text book and it looks just like my husband's rash... but we both get regular std testing and have always been negative, but this skin thing has gone on for years. Is it possible to have a herpes virus of some kind, with recurring rash, but NOT have genital herpes or the cold sore kind?