Smallpox and Virgin Soil Epidemics with Jason Opal
Episode 122 - February 12, 2024
Jason Opal (McGill University) joins the Infectious Historians. Jason begins by discussing the massive impact of disease on the Americas between the 15th and 18th centuries, while also acknowledging the realization of this history in the 1970s. He also touches upon the concept of “virgin soil” epidemics. The second part of the episode focuses on inoculation against smallpox in Europe, the colonies and elsewhere. Jason discusses how inoculation was done and the different ways in which it was adopted. He also touches upon the relevance of measles to this story. The last part of the interview discusses teaching epidemics, as Jason shares with Merle and Lee how he teaches disease.
Further Reading
- Katherine Paugh, “Yaws, Syphilis, Sexuality, and the Circulation of Medical Knowledge in the British Caribbean and the Atlantic World,” Bulletin of the History of Medicine 88 (Summer 2014): 226-52.
- Andrew C. Isenberg, “An Empire of Remedy: Vaccination, Natives, and Narratives in the North American West,” Pacific Historical Review, 86, 1 (Feb 2017): 84-113.
- Dauril Alden and Joseph C. Miller, “Out of Africa: The Slave Trade and the Transmission of Smallpox to Brazil, 1560-1831,” Journal of Interdisciplinary History, 18, 2 (Autumn 1987): 195-224.
Our Guests
Jason Opal
Professor – History and Classical Studies – McGill University
