人为的疾病
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A Man-made Disease
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第1段
In the early days of the settlement of Australia, enterprising settlers unwisely introduced the European rabbit. This rabbit had no natural enemies in the Antipodes, so that it multiplied with that promiscuous abandon characteristic of rabbits. It overran a whole continent. It caused devastation by burrowing and by devouring the herbage which might have maintained millions of sheep and cattle. Scientists discovered that this particular variety of rabbit and apparently no other animal was susceptible to a fatal virus disease, myxomatosis. By infecting animals and letting them loose in the burrows, local epidemics of this disease could be created. Later it was found that there was a type of mosquito which acted as the carrier of this disease and passed it on to the rabbits. So while the rest of the world was trying to get rid of mosquitoes, Australia was encouraging this one. It effectively spread the disease all over the continent and drastically reduced the rabbit population. It later became apparent that rabbits were developing a degree of resistance to this disease, so that the rabbit population was unlikely to be completely exterminated. There were hopes, however, that the problem of the rabbit would become manageable.
在开拓澳大利亚初期，那批雄心勃勃的开拓者们将欧洲兔引进了澳大利亚，这个做法并不明智。欧洲兔在澳大利亚和新西兰没有天敌，因此便以兔类特有的惊人繁殖力，毫无节制地繁衍起来。整个澳洲兔子成灾。兔子在地里打洞，原本可养活数百万头牛羊的牧草，被兔子消耗殆尽，澳洲大陆遭到了严重的破坏。科学家们发现，这种特殊品种的兔子（显然不包括别的动物）易患一种叫 “多发性粘液瘤”的致命病毒疾病。通过传染兔子，并让病兔在兔子洞内乱跑，就可以让此病在该区域流行起来。后来又发现，有一种蚊子是传播该疾病的媒介，能把此病传染给（健康的）兔子。 因此，当世界上其他地方在设法灭蚊，澳大利亚却助长蚊子。蚊子有效地将疾病传遍澳洲大陆，使得兔子的数目大幅下降。后来，明显看出，兔子对这种疾病已逐渐产生一定的抵抗力，以致于彻底消灭兔子不太可能。无论如何，仍有希望将兔子问题予以掌控。
第2段
Ironically, Europe, which had bequeathed the rabbit as a pest to Australia, acquired this man-made disease as a pestilence. A French physician decided to get rid of the wild rabbits on his own estate and introduced myxomatosis. It did not, however, remain within the confines of his estate. It spread through France, where wild rabbits are not generally regarded as a pest but as a sport and a useful food supply, and it spread to Britain where wild rabbits are regarded as a pest but where domesticated rabbits, equally susceptible to the disease, are the basis of a profitable fur industry. The question became one of whether Man could control the disease he had invented.
颇为讽刺的是，欧洲将兔子赠予澳洲，对澳洲而言成为一害；而欧洲却如染上瘟疫一般感染了这种人为的疾病。一位法国内科医生决定除掉其庄园内的野兔，并引进了多发性粘液瘤。然而，该疾病并未局限于其庄园内，而是在整个法国蔓延开来。野兔在法国一般不被当作有害动物，而被视为打猎取乐的玩物和有用的食物来源。 这种疾病又蔓延到了英国。在英国，野兔被当作有害的动物，可家兔却是利润丰厚的毛制品工业的基础，然而家兔同样易感染这种疾病。现在的问题变成，人类能否控制住人类自己造成的疾病。
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