The Origin of the Word "Virus"

The word vaccine, and vaccination, actually comes from the name for a pox virus—the cowpox virus, vaccinia, to be exact. But why did this wonderful tool of immunization, which constitutes one of the “greatest hits” in the entire history of medicine, get its name from a virus that attacks cows?

Read this piece by Howard Markel, IHPI member and Director of the Center for the History of Medicine at the University of Michigan.