virgin soil

British  

noun

1. soil that has not been cultivated before

2. a person or thing that is as yet undeveloped

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Example Sentences

Each epidemic has followed a more-or-less predictable sequence: Sudden introduction and rapid spread in “virgin soil” populations, death and suffering, social disruption and culture change.

From Seattle Times

The third “virgin soil” epidemic was measles in 1847-48.

From Seattle Times

And it started with a “virgin soil” epidemic of a deadly “new” disease spread by droplet infection which had no immediate cure — like the coronavirus.

From Seattle Times

He goes on, “When I think of this familiar technology in that way, a lightsail tumbling in sunlight resembles nothing so much as the wings of a dandelion seed sent off by the wind to fertilize virgin soil.”

From New York Times

In the years preceding the Pilgrims’ arrival, the Native inhabitants of southern New England had been ravaged by what some scientists refer to as a “virgin soil” epidemic.

From Washington Times