[by:www.51voa.com] [00:00.00]¸ü¶àÌýÁ¦Çë·ÃÎÊ51VOA.COM [00:00.04]From VOA Learning English, [00:02.40]this is the Health & Lifestyle report. [00:05.68]For most people, the word "plague" [00:08.92]creates horrible images in the mind [00:11.90]of people dropping dead in European villages during the 1300s. [00:17.92]But the plague has been around for much longer than that. [00:21.80]And the scary part is ¨C it is still here. [00:25.76]As we often say, [00:27.40]those who don't learn from the past are sure to repeat it. [00:31.92]So, let's talk about the past. [00:35.28]There are three forms of plague are they are all caused by the same bacteria. [00:41.20]Bubonic plague develops in the lymph nodes. [00:44.52]Pneumonic plague develops in the lungs. [00:48.40]The third type, septicemic plague, is the rarest. [00:52.96]These diseases caused the Black Death. [00:56.00]The Black Death killed at least [00:58.24]a third of the European population in the mid-1300s. [01:04.20]However, that was not the first time the plague killed. [01:08.28]Danish researchers discovered new evidence [01:12.44]that the bacterium responsible for the plague [01:15.92]infected people thousands of years earlier. [01:20.16]And they discovered it by accident. [01:23.44]They were investigating remains of Bronze Age human beings [01:27.92]when they found something unexpected. [01:31.36]Within the fossilized teeth, the researchers found the bacterium [01:36.64]that causes Bubonic Plague. [01:39.20]It proves the plague was around 4,800 years ago. [01:45.20]However, the bacterium that caused [01:47.52]the Black Death was not nearly as aggressive during the Bronze Age. [01:53.00]That is the opinion of Simon Rasmussen of Technical University in Denmark. [01:59.92]He helped examine more than 100 fossilized teeth. [02:04.00]Only seven teeth had evidence of the plague bacterium Y. pestis. [02:09.88]These teeth came from remains dating between 2,900 and 4,800 years ago. [02:19.16]This suggests that back then, [02:21.60]the bacterium did not spread as easily as it did later. [02:26.92]Infected fleas now pass the disease to humans. [02:31.36]But genetic evidence proves that the plague did not stowaway, [02:36.44]or catch a ride, on the insects during the Bronze Age. [02:41.88]Mr. Rasmussen explains. [02:45.00]"The plague in the Bronze Age is missing the gene that [02:48.84]makes it able to survive inside the flea. [02:51.72]So, what we think is the plague could [02:55.04]not actually be transmitted by fleas back then." [02:58.00]The findings from the study were reported in the journal Cell. [03:02.60]In another research paper, [03:04.52]the same researchers demonstrated a link [03:07.52]between this genetic evidence and the history of some world civilizations. [03:13.84]Their paper caused quite a stir, [03:16.52]meaning it fueled some interesting discussions. [03:20.88]The paper suggests that the plague may have been partly to blame [03:25.76]for widespread disease in ancient civilizations. [03:30.48]The researchers said the disease could have led to the collapse of Classical Greece [03:36.16]and weakened the ancient Roman army. [03:39.69]The researcher Simon Rasmussen [03:42.48]says disease may also have led to a number of ancient mass migrations, [03:48.67]or people moving from one place to another. [03:52.64]Of course, people would want to flee from disease. [03:57.00]Again, here is Mr. Rasumssen. [03:59.84]"Still today and also in the Middle Ages, [04:03.16]if there were some kind of disease outbreak, [04:06.24]then often people would try to flee from it." [04:09.08]But he says the migrants brought the disease with them [04:12.40]when they settled new areas. [04:14.92]If you think that cases of the plague [04:17.52]are only part of the history of world health ¨C think again. [04:22.72]They are rare, but outbreaks do happen. [04:26.56]The plague struck in India in 1994. [04:30.04]At the time, Indian health officials reported nearly 700 cases [04:34.96]to the World Health Organization. [04:38.04]There were several small outbreaks in 2014. [04:41.92]Four people in the United States [04:44.56]were identified with pneumonic plague. [04:47.80]Pneumonic plague is the only form of the disease [04:51.00]that can be passed from person-to-person. [04:54.44]Also in 2014, a Chinese man died from the plague [04:58.96]after chopping up a dead animal and feeding it to his dogs. [05:03.96]No one else died, but Chinese health official [05:07.20]quarantined the town where he lived [05:09.88]until they were sure no one else had caught the plague. [05:14.32]The WHO website says there is a current outbreak of plague in Madagascar. [05:21.04]The height of this outbreak was in November 2014. [05:25.80]At that time, health officials there [05:28.28]reported over 300 cases and almost 80 deaths. [05:33.44]If antibiotic treatment is given during the early stages of the disease, [05:40.00]Mr. Rasmussen says, [05:41.68]the plague is almost completely curable. [05:45.24]I'm Anna Matteo. [05:47.00]Practicing making your own sentences [05:49.32]using the words lesson words [05:50.92]or the idiomatic expression [05:53.32]"caused quite a stir" in the Comments section or on 51VOA.COM.