Smallpox and Cowpox Pustules, Days 10 and 11,1896

Smallpox and Cowpox Pustules, Days 10 and 11,1896

A comparison between smallpox and cowpox pustules on the 10 and 11th day of the disease. Cowpox (orthopoxvirus family) is an infectious disease caused by the cowpox virus. The virus is zoonotic, meaning that it is transferable between species, such as from animal to human. The transferral of the disease was first observed in dairymaids who touched the udders of infected cows and consequently developed the signature pustules on their hands. Cowpox is similar to, but much milder than, the highly contagious and often deadly smallpox disease. Its close resemblance to the mild form of smallpox and the observation that dairy farmers were immune from smallpox inspired the first smallpox vaccine, created and administered by English physician Edward Jenner. Once vaccinated, a patient develops antibodies that make them immune to cowpox, but they also develop immunity to the smallpox virus, or Variola virus. Chromolithograph, after George Kirtland, 1896.

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3370 x 4200 px | 40.5 MB

28.5 x 35.6 cm | 11.2 x 14.0 in (300 dpi)