A pustular eruptive disease of the cow, which, when communicated to the human system, as by vaccination, protects from the smallpox; vaccinia; -- called also kinepox, cowpock, and kinepock.
a disease of cattle, not usually lethal, that causes pus-filled blisters similar to those seen in smallpox.
A mild skin disease of milk cows, principally confined to the udder and teats, that may be contracted by people from milking an infected cow. People develop vesicles (blebs) which break and form ulcers on the fingers (sometimes called "milkers nodules"). These usually heal without scarring. Cowpox protects against smallpox and was used by Edward Jenner in 1798 for this purpose to confer immunity against smallpox. Cowpox and smallpox belong to the orthopox family of viruses.
a viral disease of cattle causing a mild skin disease affecting the udder; formerly used to inoculate humans against smallpox
A relatively minor viral disease of cattle, often transmitted to humans that milk them. It causes pox (pustules) on the hands and arms but generally is not fatal. Because the cowpox virus is very similar to the smallpox virus, people who had cowpox are immune to smallpox. See immunity.
Cowpox (also known as Catpox) is a disease of the skin caused by a virus (Cowpox virus) that is related to the Vaccinia virus. The ailment manifests itself in the form of red blisters and is transmitted by touch from infected animals to humans. The virus that causes cowpox was used to perform the first successful vaccination against another disease, smallpox, which is caused by the related Variola virus.