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In 1925 relay teams of sled dogs carried diphtheria antitoxin 1,085 km across Alaska to save the town of Nome, cut off by winter ice. Twenty mushers and about 150 dogs made the run in five and a half days, in temperatures near −50°C.

Nome, Alaska, 1925

NatureHistory

The story behind the card

Diphtheria is a bacterial throat infection that can suffocate children; the antitoxin neutralises the poison the bacteria make. Nome's doctor, Curtis Welch, had only an expired supply, and the open-cockpit aircraft of the day could not fly safely in such cold, so the serum went by train to Nenana and then by dog sled. The hardest leg fell to Leonhard Seppala and his twelve-year-old lead dog Togo, whose team covered about 420 km, including a crossing of the sea ice of Norton Sound in a gale. Balto led Gunnar Kaasen's team over the last 89 km into Nome, became famous, and has a statue in New York's Central Park. The Iditarod sled race commemorates the run.

Türkçe oku
Kızak köpekleri 1925'te, kışın dünyayla bağı kopan Alaska kasabası Nome'a difteri serumunu el değiştire değiştire 1.085 km taşıdı. Yirmi kızak sürücüsü ve yaklaşık 150 köpek bu yolu, −50°C'ye varan soğukta beş buçuk günde aldı.
Nome, Alaska, 1925

Difteri, özellikle çocukları boğarak öldürebilen bakteriyel bir boğaz hastalığıdır; antitoksin, bakterinin salgıladığı zehri etkisiz hâle getirir. Nome'daki doktor Curtis Welch'in elinde yalnızca süresi geçmiş bir miktar serum vardı. O yılların açık kokpitli uçakları böyle bir soğukta güvenle uçamazdı; serum trenle Nenana'ya, oradan da köpek kızaklarıyla taşındı. En zor etap Leonhard Seppala ile on iki yaşındaki önder köpeği Togo'ya düştü: Ekipleri, fırtınada Norton Sound'un deniz buzunu geçmek de dâhil, yaklaşık 420 km yol aldı. Nome'a giden son 89 km'yi ise Gunnar Kaasen'in ekibinin başındaki Balto koştu. Ünlenen de o oldu; New York'taki Central Park'ta heykeli var. Iditarod kızak yarışı bu koşunun anısını yaşatıyor.

Sources and further reading

Background reading: 1925 serum run to Nome
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