A teenager from Wales, United Kingdom, contracted the bovine smallpox virus or cowpox virus while he was feeding his family’s cows. In the UK, this is the first case of cowpox virus, which was common in the 18th century, in more than ten years.
The bovine smallpox virus or cowpox virus, also known as CPXV, is a virus that causes a skin disease that manifests itself as red blisters and is transmitted by contact between infected animals and humans. It is related to the Vaccinia virus and the smallpox virus (Variola virus). The disease was prevalent among dairy farmers, who became infected by touching the udders of the cows.
Bovine smallpox virus was used to perform the first successful vaccination against smallpox. The word “vaccine,” first used by Edward Jenner (an English doctor) in 1796, comes from the Latin root “Vacca,” which means cow, or from the Latin word “vaccinia,” which means “cowpox virus.”
Modern vaccination campaigns against smallpox were conducted with the Vaccinia virus.
Cowpox virus case recorded in a teenager in the UK for the first time in over ten years
In Wales, United Kingdom, a 15-year-old teenager was diagnosed with a virus, which was very common in the 18th century, the bovine smallpox virus or the cowpox, a disease that has not been reported in the area for more than ten years.
The young fellow got infected while he was feeding his family’s cows, and according to the patient’s mother, the animals nibbled at the boy’s hands, and then injuries began to appear on his arms and feet.
Upon examination by the doctors, he was diagnosed with cowpox virus.
The virus reached its peak in the 18th century when many people became infected while milking cows but was almost eradicated when modern milking methods were introduced.
The case occurred about three months ago but was made public only earlier this month at the annual meeting of the European Society for Paediatric Dermatology to warn doctors of the possible resurgence of the cowpox virus.
