{{DiseaseDisorder infobox |
  Name        = Cowpox |
  ICD10       = B08.0 |
  ICD9        =  |
  MeshID      = D015605 |
}}
{{Taxobox | color=violet
| name = ''Cowpox virus''
| image = 
| image_caption = ''Cowpox virus''
| image_width=250px
| virus_group = i
| familia = ''Poxviridae''
| genus = ''Orthopoxvirus''
| species = '''''Cowpox virus'''''
}}
'''Cowpox''' (also known as '''Catpox''') is a disease of the skin that is caused by a virus known as the '''''Cowpox virus'''''. The pox is related to the ''vaccinia'' virus, and got its name from cow maids touching the udders of infected cows. The ailment manifests itself in the form of red blisters and is transmitted by touch from infected animals to humans. When it is gone, the person is immune to smallpox.

The cowpox virus was used to perform the first successful vaccination against another disease, smallpox, which is caused by the related ''Variola virus''. Therefore, the word "vaccination" &mdash; first used by Edward Jenner (an English physician) in 1796 &mdash; has the Latin root ''vacca'' meaning cow, or from Latin root ''vaccinia'' meaning cowpox.

== Origin ==

In the years 1770 till 1791 at least 6 people had tested independently the possibility of using the cowpox vaccine as an immunisation for smallpox in humans for the first time; among them the English farmer Benjamin Jesty, in Dorset, England in 1774 and the German teacher Peter Plett in 1791.<ref name="Sudhoffs Archiv">''Sudhoffs Archiv'' vol.90 (2),pp. 219-232, 2006, Stuttgart, Germany.</ref> Jesty inoculated his wife and two young sons and thus spared them probable death by smallpox which was raging in the area in which they lived. His patients who had contracted and recovered from cowpox (mainly milkmaids), a disease similar to but much milder than smallpox, seemed to be immune not only to further cases of cowpox, but also to smallpox. By scratching the fluid from cowpox lesions into the skin of healthy individuals, he was able to immunize those people against smallpox. It was reported that farmers and people working regularly with cows and horses were often spared during smallpox outbreaks. More and more an investigation conducted towards 1790 by the Royal Army showed that horse-mounted troops were less infected by smallpox than infantry, and this due to a major exposure to the ''horse pox'' virus, with similar traits with cowpox's one. 
However, credit was stolen by the politically astute Dr. Jenner who performed his first inoculation, twenty-two years later. It is said that Jenner made this discovery by himself without any ideas or help from others. Although Jesty was first to discover it, Jenner let everyone know and understand it, thus taking full credit for it.

The virus is found in Europe, and mainly in the UK. Human cases today are very rare and most often contracted from domestic cats. The virus is not commonly found in cows; the reservoir hosts for the virus are woodland rodents, particularly voles. It is from these rodents that domestic cats contract the virus. Symptoms in cats include lesions on the face, neck, forelimbs, and paws, and less commonly upper respiratory tract infection.<ref name=Mansell_2005></ref>  Symptoms of infection with cowpox virus in humans are localized, pustular lesions generally found on the hands and limited to the site of introduction.  The incubation period is nine to ten days. The virus is prevalent in late summer and autumn.

== Kinepox ==
Kinepox is an alternate term for the smallpox vaccine used in early 19th century America. Popularized by Jenner in the late 1790s, kinepox was a far safer method for inoculating people against smallpox than the previous method, variolation, which had a 3% fatality rate.

{{Taxobox 
| color=violet
| name = 牛痘病毒 ''Cowpox virus''
| image = 
| image_caption = ''Cowpox virus''
| image_width=250px
| virus_group = i
| familia = 痘病毒科 ''Poxviridae''
| genus = 痘病毒属 ''Orthopoxvirus''
| species = '''''牛痘病毒''''' '''''Cowpox virus'''''
}}
{{DiseaseDisorder infobox |
  Name        = Cowpox |
  ICD10       = B08.0 |
  ICD9        =  |
  MeshID      = D015605 |
}}
'''牛痘'''（，），是一種由牛痘病毒所引發的皮膚疾病，而該病毒是天花病毒的近親。該病會透過與牛隻的接觸而傳染給人類，患者會出現紅疹，而牛痘病毒會被用作免疫接種去對抗其他疾病，也是免疫接種的首度成功案例。種牛痘可預防由近親病毒所引起的天花，在18世紀英國天花肆虐時，許多人紛紛因為感染了天花而死亡。

該病的病例多在歐洲，尤以英國為最多。而該病毒可在牛隻、貓隻以及田鼠等身上找到。人類患病的個案極少，潛伏期為9-10日。

==牛痘疫苗==
1798年，英國醫生愛德華&#183;詹納在自己的病人當中，偶然的機會下發現擠牛奶的女工似乎沒有得天花的病例，於是經過研究之後，他發現是這些牛隻身上的牛痘病毒都曾經感染給女工們，而這些女工們在痊癒後便終生對牛痘免疫。又發現曾患牛痘的病人不會再患同樣的疾病，同時對天花也能終身免疫。因此牛痘病毒與天花病毒有一定關係，得過牛痘的女工們也對剛好能對天花病毒終生免疫。透過把含有牛痘的溶液塗在健康的人身上，他們便會對天花產生免疫力。於是愛德華·詹納便致力研發牛痘疫苗接種。