特别增刊 | 110年前的那次疫情战斗（朗读版）

▍英文原文

The Chinese Doctor Who Beat the Plague

In October 1910, a mysterious illness appeared in the city of Manzhouli, on the Russian and Chinese border. It spread swiftly, killing 99.9% of its victims.

The Qing Imperial court had dispatched Malayan-born, Cambridge-educated Dr. Wu Lien-teh north to stop the epidemic before it spread to the rest of the empire.

Dr. Wu set up special quarantine units and ordered blockades to stop infected persons from traveling and spreading the disease. He had teams check households for possible cases, and even managed to convince Russian and Japanese authorities to completely close the railways in the early weeks of 1911.

The pneumonic plague outbreak of 1910-1911 lasted nearly four months, affected five provinces and six major cities, and accounted for over 60,000 deaths. It is clear that without the brave and decisive actions taken by Dr. Wu it could have been much worse. Had the epidemic gone unchecked, allowing holiday rail passengers to spread the disease to the rest of China, it could have meant a catastrophic loss of life and possibly precipitated a global health crisis.

For a time, Dr. Wu was the world’s most famous plague fighter.