Finding the Cause of Yellow Fever （August 27：美国历史上的今天）

内容提要：1898年美西战争爆发，黄热病开始在古巴流行，美军五千多人死于黄热病。因此，在1900年美国成立黄热病研究委员会，最终发现病毒传播是蚊子完成的。

Yellow fever was a dreaded可怕的 disease for hundreds of years before 1900. People didn't know what made them so sick. They would have a high fever. Their joints关节 would ache. They would vomit呕吐. They would bleed internally. Their skin would turn yellow because of liver肝脏 damage. Some people got better, but many died. 

Doctors could not figure out what caused the disease. They did notice that it happened in warm, humid潮湿的 regions of the world. The Spanish-American War was fought in Cuba in 1898. Fewer than 1,000 soldiers were killed. Over 5,000 died from yellow fever. American doctors were sent to Cuba to try to find the cause of the disease. 

Some doctors thought that mosquitoes spread the illness. Other doctors weren’t so sure. Many soldiers who were bitten did not get sick. On August 27, 1900, U.S. Army doctor James Carroll let an infected感染 mosquito bite him. Several days later, he came down with yellow fever. He proved that the mosquito had caused his illness. Dr. Carroll did get well again. 

It was later learned that only certain kinds of mosquitoes carried the disease. It was also learned that in order to infect people, the mosquito had to have sucked吸 blood from an infected person during the first three days of the person’s illness. Then it took 10 days before it could infect another person. That is why some soldiers got sick and others did not. 

Once the cause of yellow fever was found, steps were taken to control the mosquito population. Later a vaccine疫苗 was made that protects a person from getting the disease. Yellow fever is now a rare disease.

本文内容选自上海外语教育出版社引进出版的《听读美国小故事》第8册（8月）。如需购买，可到当当、亚马逊、京东等网上书城去看看。