Editing Cowpox (section)

{{Short description|Disease of humans and animals}}
{{Virusbox
| name = Cowpox virus
| image = Cowpox virus.jpg
| image_alt = Electron micrograph of three Cowpox virus particles
| image_caption = [[Electron micrograph]] of three Cowpox virus particles
| parent = Orthopoxvirus
| species = Orthopoxvirus cowpox
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{{Infobox medical condition (new)
| name            = Cowpox
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| image           = Cowpox eruption.jpg
| caption         = Cowpox lesions on patient's forearm on day 7 after onset of illness. The hemagglutinin gene of the isolate clustered with a Russian cowpox virus strain, and the more distantly, with other cowpox and vaccinia virus strains. The patient's dog had orthopoxvirus-specific antibodies, indicating a possible transmission route.<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Pelkonen PM, Tarvainen K, Hynninen A, Kallio ER, Henttonen K, Palva A, Vaheri A, Vapalahti O | display-authors = 6 | title = Cowpox with severe generalized eruption, Finland | journal = Emerging Infectious Diseases | volume = 9 | issue = 11 | pages = 1458–1461 | date = November 2003 | pmid = 14718092 | pmc = 3035531 | doi = 10.3201/eid0911.020814 }}</ref>
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'''Cowpox''' is an infectious disease caused by Cowpox virus (CPXV).<ref name="Carroll et al., PloS one 2011">{{cite journal | vauthors = Carroll DS, Emerson GL, Li Y, Sammons S, Olson V, Frace M, Nakazawa Y, Czerny CP, Tryland M, Kolodziejek J, Nowotny N, Olsen-Rasmussen M, Khristova M, Govil D, Karem K, Damon IK, Meyer H | display-authors = 6 | title = Chasing Jenner's vaccine: revisiting cowpox virus classification | journal = PLOS ONE | volume = 6 | issue = 8 | pages = e23086 | date = 2011 | pmid = 21858000 | pmc = 3152555 | doi = 10.1371/journal.pone.0023086 | doi-access = free | bibcode = 2011PLoSO...623086C }}</ref> It presents with large [[vesicle (dermatology)|blisters]] in the skin, a [[fever]] and [[lymphadenopathy|swollen glands]], historically typically following contact with an infected cow, though in the last several decades more often (though overall rarely) from infected cats.<ref name=Kumar2020>{{cite book | vauthors = Barlow G, Irving WL, Moss PJ | veditors = Feather A, Randall D, Waterhouse M |title=Kumar and Clark's Clinical Medicine |date=2020 |publisher=Elsevier |isbn=978-0-7020-7870-5 |page=517 |edition=10th |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sl3sDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA517 |language=en |chapter=20. Infectious disease }}</ref> The hands and face are most frequently affected and the spots are generally very painful.<ref name=Goldman2020>{{cite book | vauthors = Petersen BW, Damon IK | veditors = Goldman L, Schafer AI |title=Goldman-Cecil Medicine |date=2020 |publisher=Elsevier |isbn=978-0-323-53266-2 |pages=2180–2183 |edition=26th |volume=2 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7pKqDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA2180 |language=en |chapter=348. Smallpox, monkeypox and other poxvirus infections}}</ref>

The virus, part of the genus ''[[Orthopoxvirus]]'', is closely related to [[Vaccinia]] virus. The virus is [[Zoonosis|zoonotic]], meaning that it is transferable between species, such as from cat to human. The transferral of the disease was first observed in dairy workers who touched the [[udder]]s of infected [[cow]]s and consequently developed the signature pustules on their hands.<ref name="dermnetnz.org">[http://dermnetnz.org/viral/cowpox.html Vanessa Ngan, "Viral and Skin Infections"], 2009</ref> Cowpox is more commonly found in animals other than bovines, such as rodents. Cowpox is similar to, but much milder than, the highly contagious and often deadly [[smallpox]] disease.<ref name="dermnetnz.org"/> Its close resemblance to the mild form of smallpox and the observation that dairy farmers<ref>{{Cite news|last=Brink|first=Susan|date=1 February 2018|url=https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2018/02/01/582370199/whats-the-real-story-about-the-milkmaid-and-the-smallpox-vaccine|title=What's The Real Story About The Milkmaid And The Smallpox Vaccine?|work=NPR|access-date=2018-02-02|language=en}}</ref> were immune to smallpox inspired the modern [[smallpox vaccine]], created and administered by English physician [[Edward Jenner]].<ref name="sc.edu">[http://www.sc.edu/library/spcoll/nathist/jenner.html Thomas Cooper Library, University of South Carolina:  "Edward Jenner and the Discovery of Vaccination"], exhibition, 1996</ref>

The first description of cowpox was given by Jenner in 1798.<ref name=BMJ1967>{{cite journal | vauthors =  | title = Cowpox and paravaccinia | journal = British Medical Journal | volume = 4 | issue = 5575 | pages = 308–309 | date = November 1967 | pmid = 4293285 | pmc = 1748782 | doi = 10.1136/bmj.4.5575.308 }}</ref> "[[Vaccination]]" is derived from the Latin adjective ''vaccinus'', meaning "of or from the cow".<ref name="Abbas2003">{{cite book |title=Cellular and Molecular Immunology | vauthors = Abbas AK |edition=Fifth |location=Philadelphia |publisher=Saunders |year=2003 |isbn=978-0-7216-0008-6 }}</ref>  Once vaccinated, a patient develops [[antibodies]] that make them immune to cowpox, but they also develop [[Immunity (medical)|immunity]] to the smallpox virus, or [[Variola virus]]. The cowpox vaccinations and [[smallpox vaccine|later incarnations]] proved so successful that in 1980, the [[World Health Organization]] announced that smallpox was the first disease to be eradicated by vaccination efforts worldwide.<ref name="Abbas2003" /> Other [[orthopox]] viruses remain prevalent in certain communities and continue to infect humans, such as the cowpox virus in Europe and [[monkeypox virus]] in Central and West Africa.{{citation needed|date=October 2021}}