Wortley Montagu popularised the Turkish practice of ‘variolation’, kickstarting the global battle against smallpox.
Articles on Cowpox
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The smallpox virus appears to have been with humanity for millennia before a global vaccination drive wiped it out. Current genome research suggests how smallpox spread and where it came from.
The smallpox vaccination used calf lymph, which was unacceptable to vegetarians and anti-vivisectionists who were growing in number from the mid 19th century.
Edward Jenner deliberately infected a young boy with cowpox and then smallpox. But his method wasn’t as mad as is often made out.
Top contributors
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Emeritus Professor, Brunel University of London
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Professor Emerita of Biology, Indiana University
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Director of the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Health Protection Research Unit in Emerging and Zoonotic Infections, and Professor of Neurology, University of Liverpool
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PhD candidate, University of Dundee