Streptococcus pyogenes was first cultured and identified as the cause of erysipelas by Friedrich Fehleisen in 1883, and it received its species designation from Rosenbach in 1884. Today, laboratory diagnosis of group A streptococcal infections still largely relies on culturing bacteria from clinical specimens. To detect streptococci in clinical samples the material is most often cultured on blood agar plates, which facilitates an easy preliminary screen for β-hemolytic colonies.