欧洲研究者称黑死病可能起源于中国

一个由爱尔兰科克大学（University College Cork）马克·阿奇塔曼（Mark Achtman）博士领导的国际研究小组，研究了17种从世界各地的瘟疫遗址采集到的鼠疫耶尔森氏菌（Yersinia pestis），这种细菌导致了瘟疫的爆发。

They then used their data to draw up a common family tree, showing how the different strains had mutated, over time, from a common root. The tree shows a branch of the disease splitting off about 728 years ago, around the time the Black Death struck.

然后他们使用他们的数据草拟了一个普遍的系谱图，这个系谱图显示了随着时间的累积，不同的瘟疫菌株如何从公共的根部开始发生突变。这个系谱图还显示，一个瘟疫病菌分支在大约728年前开始分裂出去，这个时间正好在黑死病（黑死病指14世纪蔓延欧亚两洲的瘟疫）突然爆发的时间附近。

The Black Death was the middle of three great waves of plague. The first strain appeared in the sixth century during the reign of the Byzantine emperor Justinian. That plague is thought by historians to have peaked in the 14th century and killed up to a third of the population of Europe.

黑死病是世界最大的三波瘟疫中发生时间居中的一次瘟疫。第一波大瘟疫出现在公元6世纪拜占庭帝国君主查士丁尼（Byzantine emperor Justinian）统治时期。历史学家认为，这次瘟疫在14世纪达到了顶峰，并且导致当时欧洲高达三分之一的人口死亡。

The third wave of plague began in China in the late 19th century, spreading along shipping lines from Hong Kong and hitting San Francisco in 1900.

第三波大瘟疫于19世纪后期在中国开始爆发，沿着从香港驶出的航线传播，并且于1900年蔓延至美国旧金山。

All three waves have the same common ancestor, said Dr Achtman, who also speculated that bubonic plague was carried to South East Asia, India and East Africa by rats aboard the ships of Zheng He in the 15th century, the Chinese version of Captain Cook who is thought to be the inspiration for Sinbad the Sailor.

所有这三波瘟疫都拥有相同的共有祖先，阿奇塔曼博士说。阿奇塔曼博士还推测，黑死病是在15世纪，由郑和船上的老鼠带到东南亚、印度以及东非的。郑和是中国版的库克船长，人们认为正是他激发了航海家辛巴达故事的创作。

"What we know is that the bacterium evolved in China, and has been in China all the time, and seems most likely to have come out of China," said Dr Achtman.

“我们知道的是，瘟疫病菌在中国进化了，而且一直处于中国境内，同时看起来很可能被带出了中国，”阿奇塔曼博士说。

"We do not know, however, how the Black Death travelled to Europe.

“然而，我们并不知道，黑死病是如何被带到欧洲的。”

"Historical records say that it reached Italy via sailors coming from the Caspian Sea, but how it got to the Caspian we do not know."

“历史记录显示，黑死病通过来自里海的水手到达了意大利，但是瘟疫如何到达里海，我们还不知道。”

Dr Achtman played down the possibility that the Black Death may have been carried into Europe by the caravans of the Silk Route. "Our dating suggests the plague along the Silk Route was relatively recent, probably after the Black Death," he said.

阿奇塔曼博士淡化了黑死病由丝绸之路上的旅行队带入欧洲的可能性。“我们的年代测定法显示，沿着丝绸之路传播的瘟疫在时间上是相对较近的，可能在黑死病爆发之后，”他说。

Wu Hao, an infectious disease specialist and bubonic plague expert at You An hospital in Beijing said there had been "no outbreak" of rat-born plague in China during the 14th century.

吴昊，是北京佑安医院的一位传染病及黑死病研究专家，他说14世纪在中国“没有爆发”由老鼠引起的瘟疫。

"There have been theories of China being the origin of the Black Death, but these are just theories," he said. "There is no physical evidence or accurate description on record."

“有多种理论称中国是黑死病的源头，但是这些理论终归只是理论，”他说。“没有物证或者记录下来的准确描述来证明这些理论。”

Dr Achtman said a book published in China in the 1930s detailed historical records of "massive" plague infections in China around the same time as the Black Death.

阿奇塔曼博士说，1930年代在中国出版的一本书详细地记录了一次“大规模”的瘟疫感染，而这次瘟疫的时间大约与黑死病的爆发时间相同。