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In patients with painful, possibly hemorrhagic vesicles or black crusts, especially on hands/fingers or face/neck with typical history (contact to cows or feral/cats) the possibility of a cowpox/catpox infection has to be considered. The clinical diagnosis can be confirmed with the electron microscopy; cytoplasmic inclusions may be detected histologically. Further useful diagnostic tools are the identification of the cowpox/catpox virus by PCR or in cell culture as well as serological tests to detect virus specific antibodies. We report the development of typical skin lesions of a cowpox/catpox infection in two female patients who had contact with cows or cats. Recent diagnostic and therapeutic approaches are also discussed.

Bis-diazotized benzidine hemagglutination with Formalinized sheep erythrocytes was adapted to the rapid and specific detection of enterotoxin B in staphylococcal culture fluids. There was complete agreement between hemagglutination inhibition (HI) and gel diffusion in detecting 8 enterotoxin B-positive cultures from a total of 68 staphylococcal cultures tested. The sensitivity of HI equals or exceeds that of gel diffusion. Also, results can be obtained in several hours, even with extremely low concentrations of enterotoxin, whereas it may require 24 hr to 1 week to obtain comparable results with gel diffusion. Problems associated with the presence of potent hemagglutinins for sheep erythrocytes in several staphylococcal culture fluids are discussed.

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