Between 1894 and 1909, there had been 243 cases of plague on 139 vessels sailing across various ports of the world. The origins of this third modern pandemic can be traced to the late eighteenth century when plague outbreaks had become frequent in the north-east of Burma and the infection made inroads into the neighbouring Yunnan province of China, firmly establishing itself in the west of Yunnan in the first half of the nineteenth century. It is possible that the infection would have continued to smoulder in west Yunnan without spreading further, but the equilibrium was upset by the movement of troops that were sent in to suppress a Muslim rebellion in 1855. The movement of refugees in large numbers provided suitable means for the spread of disease. Progressing gradually, plague reached Yunnan-fu (now Kunming), the provincial capital, in 1866 but it took an additional twenty-eight years to reach Canton and Hong Kong in 1894. That year, the world confronted a situation unlike that of the pandemic during Justinian I's (c. AD 482–565) time. The introduction of steamships and railways had replaced caravans and small sailing-craft, making transmission of disease much faster. Macao and Foochow (Fu Chou) were infected in 1895 while Singapore and Bombay succumbed in 1896. By 1900, Buenos Aires, Rio de Janeiro, San Francisco, Oporto, Alexandria and Honolulu had all experienced the plague.