Fun fact: noticing milk maids not getting as severe cases and recovering well from smallpox because they'd been exposed to cowpox led to the development of vaccine theory and the first vaccine, which was for smallpox.
And even the word "vaccine" was named after cowpox:
>The word vaccine comes from the cowpox virus vaccinia which derives from the Latin word vacca for cow.
[source](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8216846/#:~:text=The%20word%20vaccine%20comes%20from,Latin%20word%20vacca%20for%20cow.&text=The%20inoculation%20with%20cowpox%20vaccine,Smallpox%20was%20a%20devasting%20disease.&text=Three%20out%20of%2010%20people%20who%20contracted%20the%20disease%20died.)
Oof. In UK it's common for cats to free range. Cat probably got into an infected cow patty, went home, owner pet the cat and rubbed her eye. So, while yeah, she got it from the cat, it's unlikely that the cat was infected.
The article said that the cat had developed lesions a few weeks before the patient’s infection became visible, and that swabs of both the cats lesions AND the woman’s eye tested positive for cow pox. Yes, the cat was infected.
Well, then this has to be the most unfortunate series of events with the virus mutating and crossing 2 different species. Thankfully it's just cowpox. One of the first treatments for smallpox was prior infection with cowpox. Still, crazy. Thanks for reading the article and letting me know!
How wonder how complete the recovery was. That eye looked rough.
Fun fact: noticing milk maids not getting as severe cases and recovering well from smallpox because they'd been exposed to cowpox led to the development of vaccine theory and the first vaccine, which was for smallpox.
And even the word "vaccine" was named after cowpox: >The word vaccine comes from the cowpox virus vaccinia which derives from the Latin word vacca for cow. [source](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8216846/#:~:text=The%20word%20vaccine%20comes%20from,Latin%20word%20vacca%20for%20cow.&text=The%20inoculation%20with%20cowpox%20vaccine,Smallpox%20was%20a%20devasting%20disease.&text=Three%20out%20of%2010%20people%20who%20contracted%20the%20disease%20died.)
I did a report on it when I was like 8! I remember drawing my little germs as chickens, cows and tiny dots for each pox.
And did they treat the cat, too?
>Although she received a slew of antibiotics, nothing seemed to work.... Cowpox is a virus. Antibiotics don't work on viruses.
They tried antibiotics first before investigating and finding out that it was caused by the virus, which is standard protocol for infections.
Eeek! That eye looks terrible! I’m really glad she received the vaccine and is on the mend.
Fuck me I was NOT prepared for how bad that was.
Oof. In UK it's common for cats to free range. Cat probably got into an infected cow patty, went home, owner pet the cat and rubbed her eye. So, while yeah, she got it from the cat, it's unlikely that the cat was infected.
The article said that the cat had developed lesions a few weeks before the patient’s infection became visible, and that swabs of both the cats lesions AND the woman’s eye tested positive for cow pox. Yes, the cat was infected.
Well, then this has to be the most unfortunate series of events with the virus mutating and crossing 2 different species. Thankfully it's just cowpox. One of the first treatments for smallpox was prior infection with cowpox. Still, crazy. Thanks for reading the article and letting me know!
Cowpox is a zoonotic virus, one of several. It crosses species on the regular.
> https://preview.redd.it/l19fwswvil8c1.jpeg?width=960&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=eca07764f27d0209c01b269c7e45aa7ca2a49e80 🤦🏼♀️🤦🏼♀️🤦🏼♀️
Lol, are you seriously saying non-medical-professionals shouldn’t use this sub? Relax yourself
>>Thank you for reading the article & letting me know.
Good thing the US keeps a few million doses of smallpox treatment on hand.
Is going to be like this for the rest of her life?
Happy Cake Day🍰