cowpox

[ kou-poks ]

noun

, Veterinary Pathology.

1. an eruptive disease appearing on the teats and udders of cows, cow, in which small pustules form that contain a virus used in the vaccination of humans against smallpox.

cowpox

/ ˈkaʊˌpɒks /

noun

1. a contagious viral disease of cows characterized by vesicles on the skin, esp on the teats and udder. Inoculation of humans with this virus provides temporary immunity to smallpox. It can be transmitted to other species, esp cats

Word History and Origins

Origin of cowpox¹

First recorded in 1790–1800; cow ¹ + pox

Example Sentences

Alaskapox, also known as AKPV, is related to smallpox, cowpox and mpox, health officials said.

From Seattle Times

A century later, in the 1790s, in England, Edward Jenner invented the cowpox vaccine, the world’s first vaccine, an advancement that would transform how smallpox was treated worldwide.

From Slate

Generalist poxviruses that infect many different hosts, including monkeypox and cowpox, tend to have more genes in the terminal regions, whereas smallpox, which specializes in infecting humans, has many fewer.

From Science Magazine

Monkeypox is a poxvirus in the same family as variola – the virus that causes smallpox – and cowpox viruses and likely evolved in animals before jumping to humans.

From Scientific American

Though there is a fair bit of research on monkeypox, a lot more work has been done on cowpox, a similar zoonotic poxvirus that is endemic in Europe.

From Scientific American