中國病毒學家正在抗擊一場新的疫情

Chinese Virologists Are Fighting A New Outbreak

中國病毒學家正在抗擊一場新的疫情

A new strain of coronavirus has been discovered in China. Health officials think it's the likely culprit in a pneumonia outbreak in the central city of Wuhan, where 59 people have been diagnosed with mysterious viral lung infections since early December.

在中國發(fā)現(xiàn)了一種新的冠狀病毒。衛(wèi)生官員認為，這可能是中部城市武漢爆發(fā)的肺炎疫情的罪魁禍首。自去年12月初以來，武漢已有59人被診斷出神秘的病毒性肺部感染。

Chinese researchers say they sequenced the new coronavirus's genome from one patient's samples, and matched it to fourteen other people in the outbreak.

中國研究人員說，他們從一名患者的樣本中對新的冠狀病毒基因組進行了排序，并將其與此次疫情中的另外14人進行了比對。

The cases appear to be linked to a large seafood market in the city, which also sold live animals for meat. Experts think those infected probably touched or ate animals carrying the virus. They then developed symptoms including fever, breathing issues and lesions on their lungs.

這些案件似乎與該市的一個大型海鮮市場有關(guān)，該市場也出售活的動物作。專家認為，那些感染病毒的人可能接觸或食用了攜帶病毒的動物。隨后他們出現(xiàn)了發(fā)燒、呼吸問題和肺部損傷等癥狀。

The coronavirus family includes six other strains known to infect humans. All of them share a signature look under a strong microscope: a circle with spikes coming off the surface, ending with small blobs.

冠狀病毒家族包括另外六種已知會感染人類的病毒。在高倍顯微鏡下，它們都有一個共同的特征:一個圓的表面上有尖刺，末端有小斑點。

"Kind of looks like the peaks of a crown," says Carolyn Machamer, a virologist and cell biologist at The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.

約翰·霍普金斯大學醫(yī)學院的病毒學家和細胞生物學家卡羅琳·麥克默爾說：“看起來有點像王冠上的山峰。”

Four of those strains cause common colds. So how concerned should you be about this new disease?

其中四種導致普通感冒。那么，你應(yīng)該如何關(guān)注這種新疾病呢?

Virologists watching the outbreak are asking three main questions to assess the severity of this coronavirus, on the scale of sniffles to severe threat:

觀察此次疫情爆發(fā)的病毒學家提出了三個主要問題，以評估這種冠狀病毒的嚴重程度，以及從流鼻涕到嚴重威脅的程度:

1)    Is it contagious?

它會傳染嗎?

Chinese authorities say the virus does not transmit easily between people.

中國當局說，這種病毒不易在人與人之間傳播。

Since health workers treating patients don't seem to have gotten sick, it's reasonable to believe that the virus doesn't spread efficiently, says Vineet Menachery, a virologist at The University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston. Still, it's too early to conclude that this new coronavirus doesn't spread between people at all.

德克薩斯大學加爾維斯頓分校的病毒學家維尼特•梅納切里說，由于醫(yī)護人員在治療病人時似乎沒有生病，因此有理由相信病毒沒有有效傳播。不過，現(xiàn)在下結(jié)論說這種新型冠狀病毒不會在人群中傳播還為時過早。

How easily a virus spreads among people depends on several factors, such as how well it replicates in a person, and where in the body the infection is located.

病毒在人群中傳播的容易程度取決于幾個因素，如病毒在人體內(nèi)復制的難易程度，以及病毒在體內(nèi)的位置。

2) Is it lethal?

它是致命的嗎?

As of this week, Chinese health authorities have reported seven critical cases, but no deaths from the virus. Some patients have been treated and discharged.

截至本周，中國衛(wèi)生部門已經(jīng)報告了7例嚴重病例，但沒有人死于甲型h1n1流感。一些患者已經(jīng)得到治療并出院。

The fact that people seem able to fight off the infection and recover is a good sign, says Machamer, at Johns Hopkins.

約翰霍普金斯大學的馬查默說，人們似乎能夠抵抗感染并康復，這是一個好跡象。

"It's a serious-enough infection, but not like SARS or MERS," she says.

她說:“這是一種相當嚴重的感染，但不像非典或中東呼吸綜合癥那樣嚴重。”

Health authorities are monitoring the patients in Wuhan and their close contacts to help manage the outbreak.

衛(wèi)生當局正在監(jiān)測武漢的患者及其密切接觸者，以幫助控制疫情。

3)    Is it contained?

它被控制住了嗎?

Earlier this month, authorities closed the seafood and live animal market linked to the pneumonia cases for cleaning and investigations. It's a step from the post-SARS playbook on containing outbreaks.

本月早些時候，當局關(guān)閉了與肺炎病例有關(guān)的海鮮和活禽市場，進行清理和調(diào)查。這是后非典時期控制疫情的一個步驟。

Viruses that emerge from animals need some time to become an epidemic strain. The faster you find them, the faster you limit the spread.

從動物身上產(chǎn)生的病毒需要一段時間才能成為一種流行毒株。你越快找到它們，就能越快地限制擴散。