董建华的授权

 1996年，世界卫生组织记录了A型禽流感品种在中国的爆发，被命名为H5N1。

它首次在广东省的一只养殖鹅中被分离出来。

每年，商人们将数以百万计的活禽带入香港，以满足本地的需求，这远远超过了香港小型农场的供应。

运输和储存的条件十分恶劣。

鸟儿们被挤在成堆的笼子里，互相排泄，在禁闭室里争吵，直到被拉出来割喉。

广东菜重视鱼和家禽等食材的新鲜度。

这种味道的代价是很高的。

 

In 1996, the World Health Organisation recorded the outbreak of a type A bird flu variety in China which was christened H5N1. It was first isolated in a farmed goose in Guangdong province. Every year traders brought millions of live poultry into Hong Kong to meet local demand, which far outstripped supply from the territory’s small-scale farms. The conditions of transport and storage were grim. Birds were crowded into stacks of cages, defecated on one another and squabbled in confinement until they were yanked out to have their throats cut. Cantonese cuisine valued the freshness of ingredients such as fish and poultry. The taste came at a high price.

 

该病毒从广东迅速蔓延到香港，在那里首次传播给人类。

有18人被感染，其中6人死亡。

根据世卫组织后来的调查结果，这些人中没有人曾与家禽打过交道。

对一个紧密相连的社区的潜在影响是可怕的。

香港有一支高级别的科学家和传染病专家队伍，他们的补救措施是严厉而有效的。

跨境运输被停止，之后，卫生当局下令对香港的每只鸡进行大规模扑杀。

电视屏幕上充斥着戴着面具的工人和成堆的家禽尸体的可怕场景。

该市热闹的活体市场感觉不那么热闹了。

但威胁得到了控制。

这是政府的一个成功，它面对既得商业利益，忽略了阻止与新祖国的繁忙贸易所涉及的政治敏感问题。

他授权采取这些措施是董建华的功劳，但作出反应和干预的决定来自他的公务员队伍。

对于一个习惯于企业谄媚和恭维的首席执行官来说，这是一个不安的时刻。

 

The virus spread rapidly from Guangdong to Hong Kong, where for the first time it was transmitted to humans. Eighteen people were infected and six of them died. According to the WHO’s later findings, none of them had worked with poultry. The potential impact on a closely packed community was frightening. Hong Kong had a high-grade cadre of scientists and experts in contagious diseases, and their remedy was drastic and effective. Cross-border shipments were stopped, after which the health authorities ordered a mass cull of every chicken in Hong Kong. Gruesome scenes of masked workers and heaps of dead poultry filled the television screens. The city’s bustling live markets felt a little less lively. But the threat was contained. It was a success for the administration, which faced down vested commercial interests and ignored the political sensitivities involved in stopping a busy trade with the new motherland. It was to Tung’s credit that he authorised these steps, but the decisions to react and intervene came from his civil service. It was an uneasy moment for a chief executive accustomed to corporate flattery and deference.