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The analysis of a total of 654 benign and malignant lesions of the skin, genitalia, lungs and bronchi, intestine, kidneys, bladder, mammae, and of the head and neck region, resulted in the identification of human papilloma virus 7 (HPV 7) infections in 3 individuals. One of these was an ordinary “butcher's wart,” whereas the other 2 patients have never been involved in meat-handling or farming. One of the latter revealed extensive verrucosis of hands, feet, axilla, neck, and face, persisting for about 27 years, with new lesions arising in the neck region. Particularly the new lesions showed filiform morphology. The second patient has, for a period of more than 2 years, been showing filiform papillomas in the face which recurred after surgical removal. These 2 patients appear to represent the first cases of HPV 7 infections in non-butchers or non-meathandlers.

Using a highly sensitive method with single-stranded RNA probes, we analyzed the distribution pattern of HPV 16 DNA by in situ hybridization in CIN 11 (10 cases), CIN III (11 cases) and in invasive cervical carcinoma (17 cases). The technique used detected as little as 20–50 viral genomes per cell. This sensitive technique unmasked HPV 16 genomes in the basal cells of all forms of CIN. In CIN III viral genomes were present throughout the entire thickness of the epithelium. There was a striking difference in the distribution of viral DNA in CIN II compared with CIN III and invasive cancer. Variable viral genome distribution was observed in CIN II with the highest copy number in the area of epithelial differentiation. In contrast, CIN III showed a uniform distribution pattern of HPV genomes reflecting the lack of epithelial maturation. The majority of invasive carcinomas showed the same uniform distribution of the HPV 16 genomes as CIN III.