Detection of HHV-8 DNA in a German patient with classical Kaposi's sarcoma may allow an estimation of the incubation period.

DNA of HHV-8 (Kaposi's sarcoma-associated Herpes virus [KSHV]) was detected in a biopsy of a Kaposi's sarcoma in an elderly male patient from Saxony (East Germany). The diagnosis of classical Kaposi's sarcoma was first made in 1986. During World War II, the patient had been on active service on the Greek Islands of Crete and Rhodes only, he did not travel outside East Germany after the war. It is assumed that the patient was infected during his stay on the islands of Crete or Rhodes, where classical Kaposi's sarcoma is endemic. If so, the incubation period of classical Kaposi's sarcoma could be as long as 40 years.