CODY OLOUGHLIN FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES
BOSTON On the first Monday in March, Michel Vounatsos, chief
executive of the drug company Biogen, appeared in good spirits. The
companys new Alzheimers drug was showing promise after years of
setbacks. Revenues had never been higher.
波士頓3月的第一個周一，製藥公司百健(Biogen)的首席執行官馮納璽(Michel
Vounatsos)看上去特別有精神。公司治療阿爾茨海默症的新藥在經曆了多年挫折後顯露出了希望。公司的收入從來沒有這麽高過。
Onstage at an elite health care conference in Boston, Mr. Vounatsos
touted the drugs remarkable journey. Asked if the coronavirus that
was ravaging China would disrupt supply chains and upend the
companys big plans, Mr. Vounatsos said no.
馮納璽在波士頓一個醫藥精英會議的主席台上大讚特讚該藥的非凡曆程。有人問他，當時正肆虐中國的新型冠狀病毒是否會擾亂供應鏈、顛覆公司的宏偉計劃時，馮納璽說不會。
So far, so good, he said.
到目前為止，一切都好，他說。
But even as he spoke, the virus was already silently spreading
among Biogens senior executives, who did not know they had been
infected days earlier at the companys annual leadership
meeting.
但就在他說這番話的時候，新冠病毒已在百健高管中悄悄傳播，這些人不知道他們已在幾天前公司召開的領導力年度會議上感染了病毒。
Biogen employees, most feeling healthy, boarded planes full of
passengers. They drove home to their families. And they carried the
virus to at least six states, the District of Columbia and three
countries, outstripping the ability of local public health
officials to trace the spread.
會後，這些百健員工大多數並無不適，他們登上了滿載乘客的飛機。他們開車回到家中。病毒就這樣被帶到美國的至少六個州和哥倫比亞特區，還傳到了其他三個國家，範圍之廣超出了當地公共衛生官員追蹤病毒傳播的能力。
The Biogen meeting was one of the earliest examples in the U.S. of
what epidemiologists call superspreading events of Covid-19, where
a small gathering of people leads to a huge number of infections.
Unlike the most infamous clusters of cases stemming from a nursing
home outside Seattle or a 40th birthday party in Connecticut, the
Biogen cluster happened at a meeting of top health care
professionals whose job it was to fight disease, not spread it.
百健的那次會議是被流行病學家稱為美國新冠病毒肺炎超級傳播事件的最早例子之一。超級傳播事件指的是一小群人的聚集導致了一場大規模的感染，包括西雅圖附近的一家專業護理設施內出現的聚集性病例，以及與康涅狄格州的一個40歲生日派對有關的感染，但與這兩起聲名狼藉的超級傳播事件不同的是，百健的聚集性感染發生在一個頂級醫療專業人士的會議上，這些人的工作應該是抗擊病毒，而不是傳播疾病。
The smartest people in health care and drug development and
they were completely oblivious to the biggest thing that was about
to shatter their world, said John Carroll, editor of Endpoints
News, which covers the biotech industry.
他們是醫療保健和藥物開發領域最聰明的人，他們對即將打破他們世界的最大事件完全沒有意識，報道生物技術行業的專業媒體端點新聞(Endpoints
News)的編輯約翰卡羅爾(John
Carroll)說。
The official count of those sickened 99, including employees and
their contacts, according to the Massachusetts Department of Public
Health includes only those who live in that state. The true
number across the United States is certainly higher. The first two
cases in Indiana were Biogen executives. So was the first known
case in Tennessee, and six of the earliest cases in North
Carolina.
據馬薩諸塞州公共衛生部的官方數字，百健的聚集性感染導致99人患病，包括員工和他們的接觸者，但這個數字隻包括該州居民。美國各地與百健有關的實際病例數肯定更高。印第安納州的頭兩例感染都發生在百健高管身上。田納西州的首例已知感染者以及北卡羅來納州最早的6名感染者都是百健高管。
All the people outside Massachusetts that The New York Times has
connected to the cluster have recovered. But its impossible to say
for certain whether anyone became gravely ill or died from the
spread out of the conference.
《紐約時報》在馬薩諸塞州以外找到的與百健聚集性感染有關聯的所有人都已康複。但目前還不能確定，是否有人因此患上重症或已經死亡。
In hindsight, many people have criticized Biogens decision to
continue with its leadership meeting in late February, which was
attended by vice presidents from European countries already hit by
the virus. Others in the industry fault Biogen for being too
tight-lipped about the outbreak.
事後，許多人批評百健沒有做出取消2月下旬的領導力會議的決定，與會者包括來自已經受到病毒打擊的歐洲國家的公司副總裁。業內人士則指責百健對疫情守口如瓶。
At least two of the companys senior executives have tested
positive. Citing privacy concerns, the company has declined to name
them, even as other chief executives in biotech have disclosed
their positive tests.
百健至少有兩名高管後來病毒檢測結果呈陽性。公司以擔心隱私為由，拒絕透露這些人的姓名，盡管其他生物科技公司的首席執行官們已經披露了自己的陽性檢測結果。
Responding to questions from The New York Times, Mr. Vounatsos
refused to say even whether he had been tested for Covid-19.
馮納璽在回答時報的提問時，甚至拒絕透露自己是否做過新冠病毒檢測。
He is completely focused on employee safety, supplying medicines to
patients, and leading the company, said a Biogen spokesman, David
Caouette. This takes precedence over his personal health
status.
他把全部精力都放在員工安全、為病人提供藥物，以及領導公司上，百健發言人戴維考埃特(David
Caouette)說。這些工作比他的個人健康狀況更重要。
The company has defended its handling of the leadership meeting and
its aftermath, saying it made the best decisions it could with the
information available at the time.
百健為公司召開領導力會議以及後續的處理進行了辯護，稱公司根據當時可獲得的信息做了最好的決定。
For a company whose mission is to save lives, it was very difficult
to see our colleagues and community directly affected by this
disease, Mr. Vounatsos said in his first public comments about what
happened at Biogen. We would never have knowingly put anyone at
risk.
對一家以拯救生命為己任的公司來說，看到我們的同事和社區受到這種疾病的直接影響，令人非常難受，馮納璽在就百健發生的事情首次發表公開評論時說。我們絕不會故意讓任何人的健康受到威脅。
Founded in 1978 and based near Boston, Biogen helped pioneer the
biotechnology industry, specializing in multiple sclerosis drugs.
The company is best known now for its work on a promising treatment
for Alzheimers.
百健是生物技術行業的先驅，公司成立於1978年，總部設在波士頓附近，曾專門從事多發性硬化症藥物的研發。公司在治療阿爾茨海默症方麵取得的大有希望的進展，是其目前最為人所知的工作。
Its experimental drug was seen as a potential holy grail
until the company announced about a year ago that the drug appeared
to be a failure in large-scale trials. Patients were devastated.
The companys stock nose-dived.
百健的這個實驗藥物曾被視為一個潛在的聖杯直到大約一年前，公司宣布，該藥物似乎在大規模臨床試驗中失敗了。這讓阿爾茨海默症患者極為失望。公司的股票暴跌。
But last fall, in a stunning reversal, Biogen announced that
further analysis of the data suggested the drug actually worked at
higher doses. Mr. Vounatsos said the company planned to seek
approval from the Food and Drug Administration as soon as possible.
The stock soared; the company pulled in record annual revenues of
about $14.4 billion.
但在去年秋天的一個驚人逆轉中，百健宣布，對數據的進一步分析表明，該藥物在更高劑量下實際上是有效的。馮納璽當時說，公司打算盡快獲得美國食品和藥物管理局（簡稱FDA）的批準。公司的股價隨之飆升，年收入達到創記錄的約144億美元。
By the time of Biogens annual leadership meeting on Feb. 26 and 27,
spirits were high. So was the pressure to deliver.
2月26日和27日召開百健年度領導力會議時，公司上下情緒高漲，但在履行諾言上也麵臨著很大的壓力。
Although some other companies canceled international meetings
around that time, Biogen never discussed doing so. The outbreak was
raging in China but had not yet been declared a worldwide pandemic.
As of Feb. 21, the Friday before the meeting, the United States had
only 30 confirmed cases, according to data compiled by The Times.
Biogen executives in Germany, Switzerland and Italy where
there were just 20 known cases packed their bags.
盡管一些其他的公司取消了那前後的一些國際會議，但百健從未討論過這樣做。盡管疫情已在中國蔓延，但尚未被宣布為全球大流行病。據時報收集的數據，截至2月21日，即會議召開前的那個周五，美國隻有30例確診病例。百健在德國、瑞士和意大利（當時意大利隻有20例已知病例）的高管收拾行裝登上了飛機。
On the first night, about 175 executives gathered for a buffet
dinner and cocktails at the Marriott Long Wharf overlooking Boston
Harbor. Colleagues who hadnt seen each other in a year shook hands
and vied for face time with bosses. Europeans gave customary kisses
on both cheeks.
會議第一天的晚上，大約175名高管在俯瞰波士頓港的龍碼頭萬豪酒店(Marriott Long
Wharf)參加了自助晚餐和雞尾酒聚會。已一年沒見麵的同事們互相握手，爭著與上司見麵。歐洲人則按照習慣互相親吻兩頰。
在百健領導力年度會議的第一天晚上，175名高管聚集在波士頓的龍碼頭萬豪酒店共享自助晚餐和雞尾酒。CODY OLOUGHLIN FOR
THE NEW YORK TIMES
Its unfortunately the perfect breeding ground for a virus, said one
former vice president, who spoke on condition of anonymity because
of his ties to Biogen.
不幸的是，這些做法為病毒傳播提供了完美的溫床，一名前副總裁說。該人仍與百健有聯係，因此要求不具名。
Two days later, the senior executives returned to their offices.
One drove to a manufacturing center in North Carolina. Others flew
back to Europe.
兩天後，這些高管們回到了各自的辦公室。其中一人開車回到了位於北卡羅來納州的一個製造中心。其他人飛回了歐洲。
Peter Bergethon, the head of digital and quantitative medicine at
Biogen, went home to his wife, an infectious-disease doctor.
百健的數字與定量醫學主管彼得伯傑桑(Peter
Bergethon)回到妻子身邊，她是一名傳染病醫生。
A Biogen vice president in the Alzheimers franchise and her husband
attended a party the following Saturday night at a friends home in
Princeton, N.J., with about 45 other people.
百健公司負責阿爾茨海默病研究的副總裁和她的丈夫在會後的周六晚去了新澤西州的普林斯頓，參加了在一個朋友家舉行的大約45人的聚會。
They celebrated a holiday in the Greek Orthodox calendar, the end
of the Carnival season, with special sweets and traditional dances
that involved holding hands in a circle. Although celebrations in
Greece had been canceled, the party in New Jersey went forward,
since White House officials had just pronounced the virus in the
United States to be under control.
聚會是為了慶祝希臘東正教的一個節日，人們用特別的糖果和手拉手圍成一圈跳傳統舞的方式慶祝了狂歡節的結束。盡管希臘國內的慶祝活動已被取消，但新澤西州的這個派對照常舉行，因為白宮官員剛剛宣布了美國疫情可控。
That night, Allana Taranto, a photographer who covered the
leadership meeting for Biogen, celebrated her 42nd birthday with
her boyfriend and another couple.
那天晚上，在百健領導力會議上擔任攝影師的阿拉娜塔蘭托(Allana
Taranto)與男友和另一對夫婦一起慶祝了自己42歲的生日。
Over that weekend, though, some people in the company had already
started feeling sick.
不過，公司裏的一些人已經在那個周末開始感到不舒服。
Jie Li, a 37-year-old biostatistician who worked on the Alzheimers
drug team, had chills, a cough and aches. She was too junior to
attend the companys leadership conference, but her boss went, and
showed up at the office afterward.
曾在阿爾茨海默氏症藥物研究小組工作的37歲的生物統計員黎潔（音）出現了受寒、咳嗽和身體酸痛的症狀。她的職位還沒高到參加公司領導力會議的層次，但她的上司去了，並在會後到過辦公室。
On March 2, the following Monday, the companys chief medical
officer sent an email informing everyone who attended the
leadership meeting that some people had fallen ill and telling them
to contact a health care provider if they felt sick.
3月2日，也就是會後的第一個周一，公司的首席醫學官給所有人發了一封電子郵件，告訴他們，參加領導力會議的有些人病了，並告訴他們如果感到不適，要與醫療服務部門聯係。
We moved quickly, Mr. Caouette said.
我們迅速采取了行動，考埃特說。
Still, that same day, the companys four top executives attended a
huge health care conference hosted by the investment firm Cowen. At
another Marriott in Boston, they held meetings in hotel rooms with
potential investors. Another attendee who met some of the same
investors said he heard that members of the Biogen team looked
sick.
然而，就在同一天，百健的四名高管參加了由投資公司考恩(Cowen)主辦的一個涉及醫療保健行業的大會。百健高管在波士頓的另一家萬豪酒店房間裏與潛在的投資者舉行了會議。見過這些投資者的另一位與會者說，他聽說百健團隊的成員中有人看上去有病態。
At the conference, concern about the coronavirus mounted as word
spread that some companies, including Vertex and Seattle Genetics,
had canceled their appearances. By Tuesday, the second day of the
conference, many attendees had stopped shaking hands.
包括弗特克斯(Vertex)和西雅圖遺傳學公司(Seattle
Genetics)在內的幾家公司決定退出會議，隨著消息的傳開，會上人們對新冠病毒的擔憂也在增長。到會議的第二天，也就是周，許多與會者已不再與他人握手。
Later, investors were informed that two of the four Biogen
executives at the conference tested positive for the virus.
後來，投資者被告知，參加會議的四名百健高管中兩人病毒檢測呈陽性。
In defense of his companys decision to attend the event, Mr.
Vounatsos said, When we learned a number of our colleagues were
ill, we did not know the cause was Covid-19.
馮納璽為公司參加投資者會議的決定做辯護說，得知一些同事生病時，我們並不知道他們感染了新冠病毒。
That Tuesday, Biogen contacted the Massachusetts Department of
Public Health and reported that about 50 employees in the Boston
area and overseas had flulike symptoms. Biogen employees began
showing up at the emergency room of Massachusetts General Hospital,
demanding tests. They were told their cases didnt satisfy the
testing criteria at the time, since none had traveled to a hot spot
or had known exposure to someone who had tested positive for
Covid-19.
就在那個周二，百健與馬薩諸塞州公共衛生部聯係，將大約有50名波士頓地區和海外的員工出現了類似流感症狀的情況通報給了後者。百健員工開始出現在馬薩諸塞州總醫院(Massachusetts
General
Hospital)的急診室，要求做新冠病毒檢測。他們被告知，他們不符合當時的檢測標準，因為沒去過熱點地區，也沒有接觸過新冠病毒檢測呈陽性的人。
The next day, confirmation of the worst arrived. Two Biogen
executives who had returned home to Germany and Switzerland, where
tests were more widely available, had tested positive.
最壞的情況在接下來的那天得到了證實。百健的兩名高管回到德國和瑞士後，病毒檢測結果呈陽性，德國和瑞士的病毒檢測範圍要大得多。
On Thursday, the company held a call with its staff and shared the
news. All office-based employees were directed to work from
home.
周四，百健與員工舉行了電話會議，把這個消息告訴了他們。所有在辦公室上班的員工都被要求在家工作。
Yet on that same day, a Biogen executive visited the Washington
office of Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, or
PhRMA, the industrys top lobbying group. Soon after, that executive
tested positive, prompting the group to close its headquarters for
deep cleaning.
然而，就在同一天，百健的一名高管拜訪了美國藥物研究機構和製藥廠商協會(Pharmaceutical Research
and Manufacturers of
America)的華盛頓辦公室，該協會是藥品行業的主要遊說機構。不久後，這名百健高管的病毒檢測結果呈陽性，導致協會關閉總部，對辦公室進行消殺。
The next few weeks turned into a blur of Biogen employees leaving
casseroles on one anothers doorsteps and trading news about who had
fallen ill.
接下來的幾周在百健員工的記憶裏已變得有些模糊不清，人們隻記得把燉好的菜飯送到一些人的家門口，以及相互交換誰中招的消息。
Dr. Bergethon infected his wife, the infectious-disease specialist.
While their symptoms were manageable, the scariest part was the
uncertainty, Dr. Bergethon recalled recently at a virtual event
hosted by the University of Rochester.
伯傑桑把病毒傳染給了身為傳染病專家的妻子。盡管他們的症狀都不太嚴重，但最可怕的是這個病的不確定性，伯傑桑在羅切斯特大學(University
of Rochester)最近舉辦的一個網上活動中回憶道。
We didnt know we were going to recover, he said. We didnt know what
was coming next.
我們不知道我們會不會痊愈，他說。我們不知道病情下一步會怎麽發展。
Ms. Taranto, the photographer who had been at Biogens leadership
conference, unknowingly gave the illness to a friend at her
birthday dinner. She had felt healthy at the time.
曾在百健領導力會議上擔任攝影師的塔蘭托，在慶祝生日與朋友一起吃飯時，無意中把病毒傳染給了朋友。她當時並無症狀。
Of the four dozen people who attended the party in New Jersey, at
least 15 later tested positive, according to public health
authorities.
據公共衛生當局稱，參加了新澤西州那個派對的40多人中，至少有15人後來病毒檢測呈陽性。
A Biogen executive, Chris Baumgartner, became the first Covid case
in Tennessee. I was patient zero, he wrote on Facebook. He added:
Imagine having to confront a virus so feared, it now has the entire
world on the brink of mass hysteria.
百健高管克裏斯鮑姆加特納(Chris
Baumgartner)成了田納西州的第一個新冠病毒病例。我是零號病人，他在Facebook上寫道。他還說：想象一下不得不麵對這樣一種如此令人恐懼的病毒吧，它已讓整個世界處於群體性歇斯底裏的邊緣。
The earliest cases in Indiana and North Carolina were tied to the
company. One Biogen employee even carried the virus back to
China.
印第安納州和北卡羅來納州最早的病例都與百健有關。百健的一名員工甚至把病毒帶回了中國。
After falling ill with flu-like symptoms, Ms. Li called an
ambulance and was given a coronavirus test, according to a public
health official in Belmont, the upscale Boston suburb where she
lived. But before she received the results, she booked a flight to
Beijing, boarding a plane with her husband and son, leaving behind
their house, a white BMW and other trappings of the life they had
built in the United States over 15 years.
據黎潔居住的波士頓郊區高檔社區貝爾蒙特的一位公共衛生官員說，黎潔在出現了類似流感的症狀後，叫了一輛救護車，並做了新冠病毒檢測。但在收到檢測結果前，她訂了飛往北京的機票，與丈夫和兒子一起登上了飛機，把他們的房子、一輛白色寶馬車，以及他們在美國生活了15年積累起來的其他一些東西留在了美國。
They must have been desperate, said Dr. William Q. Meeker, a
statistics professor at Iowa State University who had worked
closely with Ms. Lis husband, Yili Hong, also a statistician. The
couple worried most about their 2-year-old, who would be far from
relatives if they both fell ill, according to a former graduate
school classmate.
他們一定很絕望，艾奧瓦州立大學(Iowa State University)統計學教授威廉Q米克爾(William
Q.
Meeker)博士說，米克爾曾與黎潔的丈夫洪義理（音）有密切的工作關係。據他們以前的一名研究生院同學說，這對夫婦最擔心的是他們兩歲大的孩子，如果他們都生病的話，孩子在附近沒有親戚能照顧他。
百健的生物統計員黎潔（音）在收到自己的新冠病毒檢測結果之前，登上了飛往北京的飛機。她離開美國幾周後，一封來自當地衛生部門的信仍然貼在她家的門上。CODY
OLOUGHLIN FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES
Ms. Li took medicine to conceal her symptoms, and revealed her
health condition to flight attendants on board the flight, Air
China and Beijing disease control officials said last month.
中國國際航空公司和北京疾控中心的官員上個月說，黎潔服用藥物掩蓋了自己的症狀，在飛機上才把自己的健康狀況告訴了空乘人員。
After she landed in China, authorities placed her under
investigation for obstructing the prevention of infectious
diseases, a crime that reportedly carries a sentence of up to seven
years in prison.
抵達中國後，當局以涉嫌妨害傳染病防治的罪名對她立案調查，該罪據稱最高可判七年徒刑。
In Beijing, the couple suffered from high fevers and lung
infections and were hospitalized, Dr. Meeker said. He recently
received an email from Mr. Hong that said they were recuperating,
but that their lives will be different in the future.
米克爾說，這對夫婦到北京後都出現了高燒和肺部感染的症狀，被送往醫院。他最近收到洪義理一封電子郵件，說他們正在康複中，但他們的生活將來會不一樣。
It appears that all of Biogens employees who fell ill have
recovered. Aside from Ms. Li, who was fired, all have returned to
work, Mr. Caouette said.
百健所有患病的員工似乎都已康複。考埃特說，除了被解雇的黎潔，其他人已重返工作崗位。
Biogen has since joined the fight against the virus. The company
donated $10 million to expand access to testing and to provide
emergency food and protective gear for hospital workers.
百健也在那之後加入到抗擊新冠病毒的戰鬥中來。公司捐贈了1000萬美元，用於擴大病毒檢測範圍和為醫院工作人員提供緊急食品和防護器材。
Company officials said its struggle against the pandemic is just
beginning: Biogen, for instance, has also entered into talks with
Vir Technology about manufacturing a potential treatment for
Covid-19, another pharmaceutical holy grail that could make untold
amounts of money.
公司的高層表示，它與大流行病的鬥爭才剛剛開始，並舉例指出：百健正在與維爾生物科技公司(Vir
Technology)談判，討論製造一種治療新冠病毒疾病的潛在藥物的事情。治療新冠病毒疾病的藥物也是人們都在努力追求的聖杯，能實現這個目標的公司將能掙到一筆大錢。
Serge Kovaleski、Jeffrey E. Singer和Susan Beachy自紐約對本文有貢獻。Austin
Ramzy自香港對本文有貢獻。
本文作者Kim
Barker是一名企業記者，專注於長期項目和敘事寫作。在2014年加入時報之前，她曾是ProPublica的記者，還曾擔任《芝加哥論壇報》南亞分社社長。
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