horsepox

American  

[hawrs-poks] / ˈhɔrsˌpɒks /

noun

Veterinary Pathology.

1. a disease in horses caused by a virus and characterized by eruptions in the mouth and on the skin.

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Etymology

Origin of horsepox

First recorded in 1650–60; horse + pox

Example Sentences

Several vaccines are also in early stages of development, including some that rely on horsepox.

From New York Times • Jun. 3, 2022

Earlier this year, a team at the University of Alberta built an infectious horsepox virus.

From The Guardian • Jun. 19, 2018

If resurrecting horsepox virus provides a roadmap to synthesizing smallpox virus, then why would anyone try to synthesize it?

From Slate • Oct. 19, 2017

Scientists in Canada have used commercially available genetic material to piece together the extinct horsepox virus, a cousin of the smallpox virus that killed as many as a billion human beings before being eradicated.

From Washington Post • Jul. 7, 2017

Over time mutation lets animal diseases jump to people: avian influenza becomes human influenza, bovine rinderpest becomes human measles, horsepox becomes human smallpox.

From "1491" by Charles C. Mann