Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun A mild contagious skin disease of cattle, usually affecting the udder, that is caused by a virus and characterized by the eruption of a pustular rash. When the virus is transmitted to humans, as by vaccination, it can confer immunity to smallpox.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun A vaccine disease which appears on the teats of a cow, in the form of vesicles of a blue color, approaching to livid.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun (Med.) 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 , andkinepock .
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun pathology A pustular, eruptive skin disease of cattle caused by an Orthopoxvirus, with lesions occurring principally on the
udder andteats . Human infection may occur from touching cows, and gives immunity tosmallpox .
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun a viral disease of cattle causing a mild skin disease affecting the udder; formerly used to inoculate humans against smallpox
Etymologies
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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There was another disease, called cowpox, often contracted by dairy workers.
The Idic Epidemic Jean Lorrah 2000
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The disease becomes modified when transferred to cattle, producing what is known as cowpox, in which vesicles similar to those of smallpox appear on the skin.
Disease and Its Causes William Thomas Councilman
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Now there is a disease of cows know as cowpox or vaccinia (from the Latin vacca, a cow) which is communicable to human beings.
Popular Science Monthly Oct, Nov, Dec, 1915 — Volume 86 Anonymous
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Now there is a disease of cows know as cowpox or vaccinia (from the Latin vacca, a cow) which is communicable to human beings.
The Scientific Monthly, October-December 1915 Scientific Monthly 1915
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The germ of cowpox, which is believed to be either the cow or horse variety of human smallpox, is cultivated upon healthy calves.
A Handbook of Health Woods Hutchinson 1896
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When Jenner introduced inoculation with "cowpox" for the purpose of establishing "immunity" in the vaccinated person, inoculation with smallpox itself was a very usual practice.
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The vaccinia ( "cowpox") virus was used in the first inoculations against smallpox, and is still the basis for current vaccines.
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A German physician, Dr. Cruwell, who studied the subject thoroughly, says: "Every vaccination with so-called cowpox virus means syphilitic infection.
Nature Cure Henry Lindlahr 1893
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The relative safety of the cowpox vaccine also made state-sponsored immunization drives more appealing.
The Panic Virus Seth Mnookin 2011
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If cowpox-induced antibodies protected against smallpox—and if cowpox could be transferred directly from person to person—an all-powerful weapon against one of the most ruthless killers in history was suddenly at hand.
The Panic Virus Seth Mnookin 2011
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