Telegram to Stalin
(October 28 and 30, 1949)
Comrade Filippov :
A pneumonic plague outbreak has occurred in the area north of Zhangjiakou, resulting in over sixty deaths. The epidemic has now spread to Zhangjiakou, where four people have died, posing a threat to Beijing and Tianjin. We request your consideration of whether it would be possible to airlift four million doses of live bacterial vaccine and one hundred thousand doses of serum to Beijing for immediate use. The cost thereof could be settled by the Chinese government through barter arrangements. Furthermore, the anti-plague team of more than thirty members dispatched previously by the Soviet government, led by Comrade Maisky (1\· 1a1·ic 1-1:11 i"i), conducted highly successful plague control work in Northeast China. The people of Northeast China and Chinese health workers are deeply grateful. This team is currently on its way back to the Soviet Union. If feasible, we kindly ask you to consider whether the Soviet government could send another similar anti-plague team to Beijing, with a subsequent deployment to Zhangjiakou, to assist us in our efforts to combat the plague. We would be immensely thankful should such assistance be granted! Mao Zedong October 28, 1949
[1]
Filippov was Stalin’s codename.
[2]
Maisky was a Soviet hygienist who at that time served as the Soviet leader of the Sino-Soviet joint medical team combating the epidemic.

Comrade Filippov:
Your telegram of October 29 has been received. We are very grateful for your dispatch of specialized physicians, an anti-plague team, and substantial quantities of pharmaceuticals to Beijing. Mao Zedong October 30, 1949