What is Cowpox?
Cowpox is a skin and viral disease caused by the cowpox virus. The disease, characterized by pockmarks similar to chickenpox, is related to contact with cows and is a relative of the vaccinia virus. The vaccinia virus was responsible for the smallpox virus and its cure in the 20th century. Less serious than the deadly smallpox, cowpox creates the same kind of mild symptoms as chickenpox. The disease is transmitted through direct contact with cows, horses or any other animal carrying the disease, and appears on human skin as the rash or red blisters common to other pox diseases. Deriving its name from the dairymaids who commonly transmitted the disease from touching cow udders, cowpox was used to help develop the vaccination for smallpox in 1979. Before that breakthrough, however, the history of human cowpox infection dates back to at least the 18th century. Testing for cowpox as a possible cure for smallpox began in 1791 when German teacher Peter Plett exposed his sons to the cowpox vi
Cowpox is a viral skin infection caused by the cowpox or catpox virus. This is a member of the orthopoxvirus family, which includes the variola virus that causes smallpox. Cowpox is similar to but much milder than the highly contagious and sometimes deadly smallpox disease. Cowpox should also not be confused with cowpock, which is an alternative name for a condition called Milker’s nodules that is caused by a parapox virus.
