# virgin soil epidemic

> English word · Noun

## Definitions
1. An epidemic in which the populations at risk have had no previous contact with the disease and therefore have almost no immunological defence.

## Etymology
Coined by Alfred W. Crosby.

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/virgin-soil-epidemic