1775–1782 North American smallpox epidemic

The 1775–1782 North American smallpox epidemic was a smallpox epidemic that spread across most of the continent of North America. The epidemic coincided with the years of the American Revolutionary War (1775–1782), which was gripping much of the continent from the colonies, western frontiers, and southern Canada. By its end the epidemic had spread as far west as the pacific coast, as far north as Alaska and as far south as Mexico, infecting virtually every part of the continent. Though no certain statistics exist it is estimated to have killed more than 130,000 people.

It is not known how or where the outbreak began, but in 1775 it was already raging through British-occupied Boston and among the Continental Army invasion of Canada. During Washington's siege of Boston the disease broke out among both Continental and British camps. Many escaped slaves who had fled to the British lines in the South likewise contracted the virus and died.

The epidemic was not limited to the colonies on the Eastern seaboard, nor to the areas ravaged by hostilities. The outbreak spread deep into the South, including Texas. From 1778-1779 New Orleans was especially hard hit due to its densely populated urban area. By 1779 the disease had spread to Mexico and would cause the deaths of tens of thousands. The epidemic spread through the Great Plains, likely through the travels of the Shoshone Indian tribes. Beginning in 1780 it had reached the Pueblos of the territory comprising present day New Mexico. It also showed up in the interior trading posts of the Hudson's Bay Company in 1782. It reached nearly every corner of the Continent, including the Far West and northwestern coast, Western Canada, and even Alaska. It is estimated to have killed nearly 11,000 Native Americans in the Western area of present-day Washington, reducing the population from 37,000 to 26,000 in just seven years.

References

• Fenn, Elizabeth A. (2001). Pox Americana: The Great Smallpox Epidemic of 1775-82. Hill and Wang. ISBN 0-8090-7821-X. 
• McIntyre, John W.R.; H (December 1999). "Smallpox its control in Canada". Canadian Medical Association Journal 161 (12): 1543. PMID 10624414. http://www.cmaj.ca/cgi/content/full/161/12/1543.