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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.
鼠疫曾杀死上亿人，横扫全世界并使人类文明屈膝。尽管现在我们对这种疾病的了解比那些在鼠疫世界性大流行中死难的古人要更多，但这并不妨碍我们进一步了解它以减轻对它的恐惧。
10、There Are Different Types
鼠疫有不同的类型
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.
我们都听说过黑死病，其实它只是三种鼠疫之一。黑死病会使得腹股沟淋巴结肿大。这也是它学名（淋巴腺鼠疫）的由来。黑死病只能通过跳蚤和与染病昆虫的血液接触两种方式传播，而不能通过人际传播。
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.
类似的，败血症鼠疫通过皮肤创口和血液接触传播。它的病因是细菌在血液中大量繁殖。败血症鼠疫与黑死病在症状上十分相似，包括发烧和发冷，只是没有它标志性的淋巴结肿大。
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.
第三种鼠疫是唯一一种通过人际传播的。肺炎型鼠疫通过空气，仅凭呼吸就可以在人人，人畜，畜畜之间传播，不同的鼠疫通过变异能够相互转化；肺炎型鼠疫和败血症鼠疫往往是黑死病的并发症。
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.
因为不同类型的鼠疫都有相似的严重症状，所以我们很长时间都以为黑死病（淋巴腺鼠疫）是在黑死病时期席卷欧洲的罪魁祸首，但新的研究表明在黑死病时期肆虐的并非淋巴腺鼠疫，而是能够快速传播的肺炎型鼠疫。（注：全文中认为黑死病是起源于中国的，依据是第二次世界鼠疫大流行的发源地是中国云南。这是错误的，因为第一次世界性鼠疫大流行的发生地仅限于东罗马帝国和地中海地区，与中国无关。事实上鼠疫是世界性的疾病，古代长期在全世界范围内流行，不能简单的将其起源归到中国）
