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The plague has killed hundreds of millions, sweeping across entire countries and bringing civilizations to their knees. Even though we now know more than those who suffered through the biggest outbreak, knowing more about the disease makes it no less frightening.
鼠疫曾殺死上億人，橫掃全世界并使人類文明屈膝。盡管現在我們對這種疾病的了解比那些在鼠疫世界性大流行中死難的古人要更多，但這并不妨礙我們進一步了解它以減輕對它的恐懼。
10、There Are Different Types
鼠疫有不同的類型
We hear most about the bubonic plague, but that’s actually just one of three plague varieties. The bubonic plague is distinguished by swollen lymph nodes, called “buboes,” which give the disease its name. This type is spread only through the bites of fleas and blood contact with the infected insect; there is no way that bubonic plague can spread from one person to another.
我們都聽說過黑死病，其實它只是三種鼠疫之一。黑死病會使得腹股溝淋巴結腫大。這也是它學名（淋巴腺鼠疫）的由來。黑死病只能通過跳蚤和與染病昆蟲的血液接觸兩種方式傳播，而不能通過人際傳播。
Similarly, septicemic plague is spread only through breaks in the skin and by blood contact. It worsens as bacteria multiply in the blood stream. Septicemic plague has many of the same symptoms as bubonic plague, including fever and chills, but it lacks the bubonic plague’s telltale nodes.
類似的，敗血癥鼠疫通過皮膚創口和血液接觸傳播。它的病因是細菌在血液中大量繁殖。敗血癥鼠疫與黑死病在癥狀上十分相似，包括發燒和發冷，只是沒有它標志性的淋巴結腫大。
The third type is the only one that can transmit from person to person. Pneumonic plague is airborne and can pass from one person (or animal) to another just by breathing in close proximity to someone. The different types of plague can mutate into one another; pneumonic plague and septicemic plague are often complications of untreated bubonic plague.
第三種鼠疫是唯一一種通過人際傳播的。肺炎型鼠疫通過空氣，僅憑呼吸就可以在人人，人畜，畜畜之間傳播，不同的鼠疫通過變異能夠相互轉化；肺炎型鼠疫和敗血癥鼠疫往往是黑死病的并發癥。
Because the different types have similarly devastating effects, we’ve long thought that bubonic plague was the disease that swept across Europe during the Black Death. New research supported by DNA evidence suggests the Black Death wasn’t bubonic plague after all but the faster-spreading pneumonic plague.
因為不同類型的鼠疫都有相似的嚴重癥狀，所以我們很長時間都以為黑死病（淋巴腺鼠疫）是在黑死病時期席卷歐洲的罪魁禍首，但新的研究表明在黑死病時期肆虐的并非淋巴腺鼠疫，而是能夠快速傳播的肺炎型鼠疫。（注：全文中認為黑死病是起源于中國的，依據是第二次世界鼠疫大流行的發源地是中國云南。這是錯誤的，因為第一次世界性鼠疫大流行的發生地僅限于東羅馬帝國和地中海地區，與中國無關。事實上鼠疫是世界性的疾病，古代長期在全世界范圍內流行，不能簡單的將其起源歸到中國）
