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Virgin Soil Epidemic is the introduction of a new disease to a place where it has naturally occurred. Virgin Soil Epidemics have occurred throughout history. These epidemics include but are not limited to diseases such as Smallpox, Measles, Cholera, Yellow Fever, Whooping Cough, Malaria, and Influenza. .

According to Alfred W. Crosby, Virgin Soil Epidemics tend to be especially deadly because no one is immune in the afflicted population and so nearly everyone gets sick at once. When a population has had no contact with an organism, they have no developed immunity to said organism. When they come into contact with an unfamiliar disease, they cannot fight it.

Virgin Epidemics have occurred across the globe throughout history. Europeans brought diseases to the New World by colonization, affecting mass Indian Populations. In Old World lands these epidemics still remain prevalent. Countries such as Australia, Africa, and the Middle East have all experienced some form of this. .

According to the definition of a Virgin Soil Epidemic, the introduction of any new disease to a population that is not immune to or has never been exposed to the disease before could be considered. The most common diseases however include Smallpox, Measles, Cholera, Yellow Fever, Whooping Cough, Malaria, and Influenza. These epidemics can be brought from any one place to another and were especially prevalent in early American colonization in which diseases from the Old World were brought to the New World. But before the spread of disease to the New World, The Old world was affected by Virgin Soil Epidemics. .

Smallpox
Smallpox was a major disease that was introduced into populations in Africa and Europe. The earliest signs of smallpox have been found as far back as 2nd Millennium BC in Egyptian mummies. In the 2nd century smallpox was spread from the Romans to new populations in Europe and the Middle East. In the 10th century, it is believed to have spread to Western Africa by Arabs. In 1589, it was introduced to Eastern Africa which caused a smallpox epidemic. .

Bubonic Plague
An example of one of these Virgin Soil Epidemics in the Old World is the “Bubonic Plague.” This was brought from the Mongols to Europe and the Middle East during the 14th century. In 1347, it spread to Constantinople and then Alexandria and then made its way to Western Europe. During the spread of the disease, it killed thousands of people every day. This was one of the most devastating epidemics in history, killing almost one third of the population in Europe. It is estimated to have claimed the lives of 75million people.

The short term effects of this epidemic were that it claimed the lives of so many people. It gave no room for proper burial, and people were buried in mass graves. Bodies were also burned or simply left in the streets due to so many deaths. The long term affects caused wages to rise due to the passing of so many working class people. Many historians believe that this even caused a turning point in European economic development. .

Types of New World Virgin Soil Epidemics
The New World however, is a better example of how Virgin Soil Epidemics have wiped out populations of people. Historians believe that the decline in the population American Aborigines in 1492 is due to the introduction of disease from the Old World. Recent estimates believe that disease claimed the lives of over 100 million, or one sixth of the entire world population at the time. It is also believed that the earliest Virgin Soil Epidemics were not recorded in American history due to poorly kept records by the British and French that settled in America. Spanish colonists however, recorded mass amounts of epidemics that affected the Native American population.

First Virgin Soil Epidemics
In 1609, the first deaths occurred among the Iroquois from measles that they caught from the Dutch traders. In 1619, another type of bubonic plague or pneumonic plague was introduced into the New World. It affected the east coast beginning in Cape Cod in New England and spreading as far as Maine. Nine out of every ten people that this epidemic touched were killed. It is said to have been brought by European fisherman. Yellow fever is also recorded in records as affecting Indians along the coast in Boston, Massachusetts during this time period. Smallpox also struck Boston between the years of 1617-19.

Smallpox
In the New World, Native Americans were the main target of new disease and epidemics. Smallpox reappears as an epidemic in the New World in 1630. It affected the Huron Indians taking the population from thirty thousand to ten thousand by 1639. It occurred in the St. Lawrence-Great Lakes region and killed almost half of the Huron and Iroquois people. In 1738, half the Cherokee Indians were killed by a smallpox epidemic. The Catawba Indians were hit by smallpox in 1759 which also took the lives of nearly half of the tribe. .During the American Revolution, the Piegan tribe suffered the wrath of a smallpox epidemic. Half the population of all Indians between the Missouri River and New Mexico and two-thirds of the Omaha Indians suffered from the same disease before the Louisiana Purchase. In the 1820S in the Columbia River area, 4/5 of the people living there were eliminated due to a fever epidemic. The Aborigines living in the plains were affected in 1837 when smallpox made a comeback.

Indian Accounts of New World Epidemics
Several accounts of epidemics have been recorded in Indian narratives. All of these epidemics listed are in fact due to the introduction of new disease into Native American tribes. In 1617, the Great New England pestilence killed off several Indians in a Massachuset tribe. The Naranganset people lost 700 of their own to a smallpox epidemic in 1633. During the mid-1600s, tribes located in New Jersey Pennsylvania and people more north all were affected by smallpox and lost about 90 percent of their population. An epidemic of measles hit Boston, Massachusetts in 1657. In 1667, smallpox spread to tribes in Virginia and in 1675, it also hit tribes in Texas. In 1690, New York, New York saw an epidemic of smallpox, along with the Indian Nations on the Illinois River in 1691, Albemarle area in North Carolina in 1696, areas along the Arkansas and Mississippi Rivers in 1698-1699, and South Carolina in 1699. An entire population of the Sewee Indians was wiped out before 1700. Distemper struck the Tuscarora Indians in North Carolina in 1708 and in 1710, the Nauset Indians in Massachusetts were affected by a fever and several were killed. Measles took several Native American lives in Boston, Massachusetts in 1713 and 1729, and in 1713-1715 killed tribes in the New England and Great Lakes areas.

The Dakota Indians
The Dakota Indians also suffered greatly from Virgin Soil Epidemics. They have kept record which was interpreted and shown as follows. Smallpox appears once again in 1781-1790 and again from 1801-1802 in which they were “sick all winter.”In 1810, smallpox reappeared. Whopping cough became a new epidemic to hit the Dakotas from 1813-1814. What is known as the “little smallpox winter” brought upon an epidemic of Measles in 1819. The Dakotas were hit by diseases that could not be identified in 1845-1846 yet was known as “many sick winter”. Cholera struck in 1849-1850 which the Indians deemed, “many people had the cramps winter.” Finally, in 1850-1851, smallpox reappears and this was known as “all the time sick with the big smallpox winter. .

Prevention of Virgin Soil Epidemics
Virgin Soil Epidemics are not easily prevented. Most often, the people have no idea what has hit them until the disease has spread to several numbers of people. Also, once they recognize that something is affecting their people, they have no way to treat the disease, are incorrect in their treatment of the disease, or misinterpret what the disease actually is. However, proper way of treating those who are infected could hinder the spread of the disease to as many people. For example, Native Americans had no concept of what a contagion was. Nor did the Native Americans believe in quarantining the sick or learned that they must do so until they experienced several more epidemics. .

The introduction of new disease onto an unsuspecting group of people who have never been exposed to that disease before has devastating consequences. Unfortunately, the cures for many of these epidemics come too late. The only way to make sure Virgin Soil Epidemics do not keep occurring is to find a cure before the disease spreads to new populations or massive amounts of people.

Virgin Soil Epidemics have terrorized populations of people throughout history. From the Old World to the New World, diseases have wiped out entire populations and killed thousands in others. These epidemics are hard to prevent and hard to recognize. Throughout history, diseases have taken the lives of countless amounts of people who had no idea what was coming.