The cases occurred as an epidemic in northern Thailand, concurrent with an epidemic of the common cutaneous form. This syndrome is a potentially fatal, febrile illness, charac terized by a mucosal lesion in the oral cavity and/or oropharynx which can progress to pseudomembranous necrosis, and to cervical adenopathy and edema. Cattle and water buffaloes, recently arrived from Burma and eaten raw or undercooked, were the probable source of the infection. Determination of etiology was based on both microbiologie and epidemiologie evidence. The clinical syndrome and epidemiology are discussed.

The zoonotic disease, anthrax, practically dis appeared from North America, Western Europe and Australia after the disease was eradicated in livestock following extensive vaccination pro grams. However, it is still prevalent in countries of tropical or subtropical latitudes, where live stock are only poorly subjected to veterinary con trol,'-1 and where environmental conditions are