Epidemics are nightmares that have haunted human civilizations for centuries. From the Black Death, smallpox and the Spanish Flu to Ebola, SARS and COVID-19, these diseases appeared like an assassin, leaving death and panic in their wake. 流行病如噩梦般困扰着人类文明，几个世纪以来一直如此。从黑死病、天花、西班牙流感，到埃博拉、非典和新型冠状病毒肺炎，这些疫病如杀手般出现，留下的是死亡与恐惧。 For a long time, lack of scientific research and weak public health measures limited the ability for communities to cope with an outbreak, causing people to take few effective, and sometimes even wrong, measures to counter it.长期以来，科学研究的匮乏和薄弱的公共卫生措施一直限制着人类社会应对疫情爆发的能力，造成抗疫措施效果不佳，甚至有时完全错误。 For example, the Black Death, or Black Plague, which was one of the fiercest pandemics in human history, ran amok in 14th century Europe. The deadly disease wiped out 24 million lives within five years and decreased average life expectancy on the continent from 40 years to 20.例如，黑死病，又称鼠疫，是人类历史上烈度最高的全球流行病之一，在14世纪的欧洲蔓延肆虐。这一致命疾病在五年内夺去了2400万人的生命，将欧洲大陆人口的平均寿命从40岁拉低至20岁。 Doctors had been rightly aware the disease was infectious among people, but wrongly assumed it was caused by noxious bad air. They isolated patients from the public and designed a curved beak shaped mask stuffed with camphor and roses to stop the spread. 医生们清楚地知道该病可以人传人，但却错误地认为其成因是有毒气体。他们将病人与公众隔离，并设计了一种弯曲的、内部填充樟脑和玫瑰的喙状口罩以阻止疫情传播。 But they had no way to know Yersinia pestis was the real culprit and could be hosted in countless flea and rats from streets and alleys.但他们无从得知的是，鼠疫杆菌才是真正的元凶。该细菌能够寄生于街头巷尾的无数跳蚤和老鼠身上。 When little could be done to control the disease, widespread death and disruption followed. 一旦人们对于疫情的控制无计可施，随之而来的便是大量的死亡和社会秩序的崩坏。 The same mistakes were made again during the 1854 Broad Street cholera outbreak in the UK. Authorities wrongly insisted the spread of cholera was through air and not water, leading to 500 deaths with ten days.同样的错误在1854年重演。那一年，英国宽街爆发霍乱。官方错误地坚称霍乱的传播途径是空气而不是水，造成10天之内500人死亡。 But such events are often followed by great change.但这样的事件之后，往往也会出现重大的变革。 In 1885, French biologist Louis Pasteur created the first vaccine for rabies. It was a start in humans taking a proactive approach in epidemic prevention. Thereafter, Yersinia pestis was discovered in 1894, and penicillium in 1928.1885年，法国生物学家路易·巴斯德发明了第一支狂犬病疫苗。自此，人类开始采取积极措施预防流行病。此后，人类于1894年发现了鼠疫杆菌，1928年发现了青霉菌。 With the development of anatomy, physiology, cytology, bacteriology and clinical medicine, the death rate of epidemics fell sharply after the 20th century. In 1980, the WHO declared the world free from smallpox, which is the first and the only complete winning so far.随着解剖学、生理学、细胞学、细菌学和临床医学的发展，20世纪后流行病死亡率急剧下降。1980年，世界卫生组织宣布彻底消灭天花，这是迄今为止人类在抗击流行病方面首次也是唯一一次全面胜利。 That was a big step for mankind.这是人类向前迈进的一大步。 In the recent COVID-19 epidemic, China sequenced and reported the genome of the virus within a month since it was discovered in December 2019. Local and global communities were also all activated to fight the outbreak rapidly. 在最近的COVID-19疫情中，中国迅速完成了病毒的基因组测序和报告，距2019年12月首次发现该病毒仅过去了一个月时间。国内和国际社会也都行动起来，积极参与抗击疫情。 Gaining victory over an epidemic is still hard, but it's getting easier as science catches up, easing the fear of the unknown. 战胜流行病依旧艰难，但科学的进步使其难度降低。这有助于消除人类对未知的恐惧。 It seems we are making progress, right? 似乎我们正在取得进展，不是吗？ At the same time, there's a need to remember there's a lot we don't know. According to data from the World Health Organization, there is still no preventive treatment for MERS, which has a 35 percent mortality rate. There is also still no cure for AIDS, which has already killed 32 million people. 与此同时，还需记住的一点是，我们仍面临很多未知。世界卫生组织的数据显示，目前仍没有预防性的治疗措施来抵御死亡率为35%的中东呼吸综合征。对于艾滋病，我们也依然没有治愈方法。该疾病已经夺去了3200万人的生命。 Epidemics are inescapable, but humans cannot afford to give up the fight. Reality tells us that in today's integrated world, we can only advance with science and technology, a well-organized health and emergency system and an open mind to collaborate. 流行病是不可避免的，但是人类却不能停止战斗。现实告诉我们，在当今这个一体化的世界中，只有依靠科学技术、协调有序的卫生和应急体系，以及开放合作的态度，我们才能取得进步。 推荐阅读：