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.
流行病如噩夢般困擾著人類文明，幾個世紀以來一直如此。從黑死病、天花、西班牙流感，到埃博拉、非典和新型冠狀病毒肺炎，這些疫病如殺手般出現，留下的是死亡與恐懼。
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.
長期以來，科學研究的匱乏和薄弱的公共衛生措施一直限制著人類社會應對疫情爆發的能力，造成抗疫措施效果不佳，甚至有時完全錯誤。
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，又稱鼠疫，是人類歷史上烈度最高的全球流行病之一，在14世紀的歐洲蔓延肆虐。這一致命疾病在五年內奪去了2400萬人的生命，將歐洲大陸人口的平均壽命從40歲拉低至20歲。
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.
醫生們清楚地知道該病可以人傳人，但卻錯誤地認為其成因是有毒氣體。他們將病人與公眾隔離，並設計了一種彎曲的、內部填充樟腦和玫瑰的喙狀口罩以阻止疫情傳播。
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.
但他們無從得知的是，鼠疫桿菌才是真正的元兇。該細菌能夠寄生於街頭巷尾的無數跳蚤和老鼠身上。
When little could be done to control the disease, widespread death and disruption followed.
一旦人們對於疫情的控制無計可施，隨之而來的便是大量的死亡和社會秩序的崩壞。
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.
同樣的錯誤在1854年重演。那一年，英國寬街爆發霍亂。官方錯誤地堅稱霍亂的傳播途徑是空氣而不是水，造成10天之內500人死亡。
But such events are often followed by great change.
但這樣的事件之後，往往也會出現重大的變革。
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，法國生物學家路易·巴斯德發明了第一支狂犬病疫苗。自此，人類開始採取積極措施預防流行病。此後，人類於1894年發現了鼠疫桿菌，1928年發現了青黴菌。
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.
隨著解剖學、生理學、細胞學、細菌學和臨床醫學的發展，20世紀後流行病死亡率急劇下降。1980年，世界衛生組織宣佈徹底消滅天花，這是迄今為止人類在抗擊流行病方面首次也是唯一一次全面勝利。
That was a big step for mankind.
這是人類向前邁進的一大步。
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，中國迅速完成了病毒的基因組測序和報告，距2019年12月首次發現該病毒僅過去了一個月時間。國內和國際社會也都行動起來，積極參與抗擊疫情。
Gaining victory over an epidemic is still hard, but it's getting easier as science catches up, easing the fear of the unknown.
戰勝流行病依舊艱難，但科學的進步使其難度降低。這有助於消除人類對未知的恐懼。
It seems we are making progress, right?
似乎我們正在取得進展，不是嗎？
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.
與此同時，還需記住的一點是，我們仍面臨很多未知。世界衛生組織的數據顯示，目前仍沒有預防性的治療措施來抵禦死亡率為35%的中東呼吸綜合徵。對於艾滋病，我們也依然沒有治癒方法。該疾病已經奪去了3200萬人的生命。
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，但是人類卻不能停止戰鬥。現實告訴我們，在當今這個一體化的世界中，只有依靠科學技術、協調有序的衛生和應急體系，以及開放合作的態度，我們才能取得進步。
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