Iceland Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its s ...

experienced one of its deadliest outbreaks of

smallpox Smallpox was an infectious disease caused by variola virus (often called smallpox virus) which belongs to the genus Orthopoxvirus. The last naturally occurring case was diagnosed in October 1977, and the World Health Organization (WHO) c ...

beginning in 1707. The

epidemic An epidemic (from Ancient Greek, Greek ἐπί ''epi'' "upon or above" and δῆμος ''demos'' "people") is the rapid spread of disease to a large number of patients among a given population within an area in a short period of time. Epidemics ...

ultimately killed around 12,000 Icelanders, close to one-quarter of the island's population at the time.

Iceland in 1707

Iceland in 1707 was a territory of the

Kingdom of Denmark The Danish Realm ( da, Danmarks Rige; fo, Danmarkar Ríki; kl, Danmarkip Naalagaaffik), officially the Kingdom of Denmark (; ; ), is a sovereign state located in Northern Europe and Northern North America. It consists of Denmark, metropolitan ...

with 53,681 people according to one tally of the 1703 census. Epidemic diseases like smallpox did not naturally sustain themselves on the island due to the relatively sparse population, but frequent trade and travel with Denmark presented a vulnerability to cross-Atlantic spread of contagious diseases. Smallpox had crossed the ocean before in 1670, causing a two-year epidemic, and since then a new generation of people had developed with no immunity to the disease.

Epidemic

In 1707 smallpox arrived in Iceland aboard a ship from Denmark when a passenger fell sick and died with the disease. Despite being buried at sea, the index case's contaminated clothing remained and infected at least one other person on board. The next year it had spread to almost every town across Iceland. The last reported cases were in the spring of 1709. Ultimately, the outbreak may have killed a quarter of the population of Iceland at the time.

References

{{reflist 18th-century epidemics Smallpox epidemics 18th century in Iceland 1707 in Europe Disease outbreaks in Iceland 1707 disasters