Welcome back, Vortexians!
It’s Throwback Thursday, and you know what that means, we’re dusting off the archives, time-traveling through science and uncovering the weird, wonderful and wildly important history of veterinary medicine.
Today’s story has everything: cows, milkmaids, pus-filled blisters (stay with me) and one seriously gutsy scientist.
Let’s dive into the origin story of vaccines - veterinary and beyond.
What Are Vaccines (and Veterinary Vaccines, Specifically)?
Vaccines are biological preparations that stimulate the immune system to recognize and respond to specific pathogens - such as viruses, bacteria or parasites, without causing the disease itself. They usually contain weakened, inactivated or parts(subunits) of the pathogen (like proteins or genetic material) that mimic the real infection, prompting the body to develop immunity.
Veterinary vaccines are simply those used in animals - from our fluffy companions (dogs, cats, rabbits) to livestock (cows, goats, chickens), wildlife and even zoo animals.
They play a critical role in:
- Preventing disease
- Reducing animal suffering
- Limiting outbreaks
- Protecting public health (many animal diseases can jump to humans - zoonosis alert!)
- Supporting food security and the economy
Let's hop into our time machine - no DeLorean needed and head straight into the late 18th century, where the air was thick with superstition, the streets were cobbled and disease was a silent, relentless killer.
Let’s begin.
The World in the 1700s: Disease, Death and Desperation
Smallpox was the monster under the bed - it killed 3 out of 10 people it infected and left the rest disfigured or blind. Epidemics swept across continents. Monarchs, peasants, soldiers and scholars - all were fair game.
Hospitals were primitive. Animal diseases were rampant and misunderstood. People believed in "bad air" (miasma), humors and divine punishment as causes of illness.
Meanwhile, veterinary medicine was just crawling out of the womb. The first veterinary school in the world had only just been established - in Lyon, France in 1761, by a visionary named Claude Bourgelat.
So when disease hit, it wasn’t just a health issue, it was an economic and societal catastrophe. Livestock died, food disappeared and people starved.
Enter the Milkmaids… and Cowpox
Now, here’s where things get interesting.
In rural England, people started noticing something odd: milkmaids - the women who spent their days milking cows never seemed to get smallpox. They might catch cowpox (a mild illness that caused pustules on their hands), but they never got the deadly version.
Cowpox was an animal disease passed to humans by direct contact with infected udders or sores on cows. To humans, it was barely a nuisance. But it looked suspiciously similar to smallpox - just way less terrifying.
This observation was whispered around for years... but no one acted on it - until a curious English country doctor decided to put it to the test.
Meet Edward Jenner: Country Doctor, Scientific Daredevil
The Bold Experiment
In 1796, Jenner took a bold step. A local milkmaid named Sarah Nelmes had fresh cowpox lesions on her hand. He took pus (yes, literal pus) from her sore and inoculated it into the arm of James Phipps, the 8-year-old son of his gardener.
Yes, you read that right - he intentionally infected a child. (don’t try this at home, folks - it was the 1700s).
Jenner repeated the experiment multiple times and published his results in 1798, calling it an "Inquiry into the Causes and Effects of the Variolae Vaccinae" - aka cowpox.
Why Did It Work?
The Ripple Effect: Pasteur, Koch and the Birth of Germ Theory
At this point, we were still a century away from really understanding why vaccines worked. There was no knowledge of bacteria or viruses - just results.
But Jenner’s work sparked a fire. And that fire would be fanned into a global inferno by a man named...
Louis Pasteur.
Pasteur was a French chemist and microbiologist who lived in the mid-1800s. He gave us:
- The germ theory of disease
- Pasteurization (yup, named after him!)
- And... the first vaccines for animals.
Boom. Veterinary vaccine success.
A few years later, Pasteur developed the rabies vaccine which would be used in both dogs and humans, marking the beginning of the One Health movement before it even had a name.
The Veterinary Revolution Begins
As the 20th century dawned, veterinary science exploded. Researchers around the world began developing vaccines for livestock diseases - especially those with massive economic impacts:
- Rinderpest (cattle plague) - eradicated by vaccine campaigns by 2011
- Foot-and-mouth disease
- Brucellosis
- Newcastle disease in poultry
- Canine distemper
- Feline panleukopenia
And of course - rabies, the first zoonotic disease to be tackled through coordinated human-animal vaccination efforts.
Why Did This Happen?
Vaccines weren’t developed out of curiosity alone. They were a response to:
- Plagues killing millions
- Livestock epidemics causing famine and poverty
- A need to protect armies, food systems and global trade
The science advanced because lives depended on it.
Governments, military institutions and veterinary colleges began funding research. The World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) was established in 1924 to tackle animal diseases globally.
Veterinary vaccines became not just tools for animal health but for national security, public health and economic survival.
Fast Forward to Today
Veterinary vaccines are now used for everything from canine parvovirus to feline leukemia, rabies and equine influenza.
And let’s be real, if you’ve ever tried to pill a cat, you’ll understand why preventing disease is WAY better than treating it. (Shoutout to my scratched-up kitchen tiles and the one-eyed glare of my ginger tabby, Mango. Yes, Mango - I still love you.)
As a vet, watching pet parents hold their breath during first vaccinations is something I see often. But I always say this:
“A moment of ‘ouch’ can save a lifetime of pain. And in the case of rabies - even save a life.”
What Causes the Need for Veterinary Vaccines?
Diseases in animals are caused by pathogens (bacteria, viruses, fungi, protozoa, parasites). These agents:
- Spread via contact, bodily fluids, contaminated water or food, insects or airborne particles.
- Can cause outbreaks in kennels, farms, shelters and even homes.
- In some cases (like rabies, leptospirosis, brucellosis), they can infect humans.
Vaccines help animals build protective immunity before they encounter the real disease, reducing illness and transmission.
So... What Does This Mean for Our Pets Today?
- 🐶 Dogs: Parvo, distemper, hepatitis, rabies
- 🐱 Cats: Feline leukemia, panleukopenia, rabies
- 🐰 Rabbits: Myxomatosis, RHD
- 🐴 Horses: Influenza, tetanus
- 🐓 Poultry: Marek’s, Newcastle disease
And for animals that feed the world:
- 🐄 Cattle: Brucellosis, anthrax, lumpy skin disease
- 🐑 Sheep/goats: PPR, enterotoxemia
- 🐖 Pigs: African swine fever (still no vaccine - researchers are working hard)
What Can Pet Parents Do?
- Stick to your vet’s vaccine schedule. Timely boosters matter.
- Keep vaccine records updated and handy, especially for travel or emergencies.
- Know your area: Some diseases are region-specific (e.g., Lyme in tick-prone zones).
- Ask questions! Vaccines aren’t one-size-fits-all - breed, age, lifestyle all matter.
What Can Your Vet Do?
Vets are your vaccination partners. They will:
- Evaluate lifestyle risk factors (indoor-only vs outdoor pets, contact with other animals, travel habits)
- Design a personalized vaccination plan
- Administer vaccines safely using proper technique and dose
- Monitor for rare reactions and treat immediately if needed
- Document and remind you when boosters are due
Pro tip: Ask about titer testing - a blood test that shows if a pet still has immunity without needing a booster.
Treatment (If Vaccination Was Missed)
If an unvaccinated pet gets sick:
- Expect intensive care (IV fluids, antibiotics, antiviral meds, anti-nausea drugs)
- Hospital stays can be long and expensive
- Isolation protocols apply in clinics for contagious diseases
Sadly, some diseases like rabies are untreatable once symptoms appear and are fatal.
Prognosis
- Vaccinated pets: Excellent prognosis even if exposed. Most don’t get sick at all.
- Unvaccinated pets: Prognosis depends on disease, age and response to treatment. Parvo survival rates drop below 50% without care.
Prevention Is Better Than Cure
Why vaccinate if your pet seems healthy? Because diseases like:
- Canine parvovirus can kill within days
- Feline panleukopenia wipes out bone marrow in cats
- Rabies is 100% fatal and a public health emergency
Vaccines PREVENT:
- Expensive emergency bills
- Suffering
- Zoonotic transmission
- Emotional heartbreak
And as someone who's seen a puppy pass from parvo - one that could've been protected with a ₦2,000 (about $1.30) shot, trust me: Prevention > regret.
From Cowpox to Cat Vaccines - What a Ride!
Who would've thought a cow, a milkmaid and a bold scientist would change the course of medicine for both humans and animals?
Next time your vet pulls out that syringe, tip your (imaginary) hat to Edward Jenner, the milkmaids of the 18th century and the cow whose pox rewrote history.
And maybe, just maybe, whisper a quiet “moo” of gratitude.
Let’s Talk Vortexians!
- Have you ever missed a vaccine booster for your pet and regretted it?
- Got questions about what vaccines your fur-baby really needs?
- Or did you totally not know that cows helped save the world? (Be honest - I didn’t until vet school!)
Drop your thoughts in the comments. Let's nerd out together - the vintage vaccine edition.
Check out previous post - Senior Cats and Weight Loss: Aging Gracefully or Cause for Alarm?