VOA慢速英语:MERS Virus Spreads Outside Middle East

Experts are watching the outbreak of a virus in the Middle East for signs that it could spread around the world.
专家们正在观察中东爆发的一种病毒是否有传播到世界各地的迹象。

David Swerdlow is with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. He studies the spread of diseases through large populations. He leads the CDC's response to the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome, or MERS.
David Swerdlow在美国疾病控制预防中心工作。他研究的是疾病通过大量人口传播。他负责美国疾病控制和预防中心对中东呼吸系统综合症（MERS）的应对。

First, here is the bad news.
首先，这里有一些坏消息。

"Thirty to 40 percent of people who get it have died. It's caused illness in multiple countries. The virus clearly spreads from person to person and it's severe and there's no treatment or vaccine."
“30%到40%的感染者已经死亡。它已经在多个国家引发疾病。这种病毒明显能够人际传播。这是非常严重的，而且无法治疗或疫苗。”

MERS is a member of the viral family of germs that cause the common cold, as well as severe acute respiratory syndrome, or SARS. That disease appeared in southern China in 2003. It infected about 8,000 people in 29 countries and killed about 800 before it was contained.
中东呼吸综合症是引发普通感冒以及严重急性呼吸系统综合症（简称非典，SARS）的病毒家族中的一员。这种疾病最早于2003年出现在中国南部，它在29个国家感染了约8000人。在这种病毒被遏制之前，有约800人因此死亡。

The MERS virus first appeared in September of 2012. Most reported cases have been in Saudi Arabia.
中东呼吸综合症最早出现在2012年9月。大多数病例报告发生在沙特阿拉伯。

Now, for the good news. MERS does not spread as easily as SARS, says Amesh Adalja with the Infectious Diseases Society of America.
现在，好消息是，美国传染病协会的Amesh Adalja表示，中东呼吸综合症没非典那样容易传播。

"With SARS we saw much more human transmissibility. And we also saw individuals who we called 'super-spreaders,' people who disproportionately spread the virus more than anybody else and were really responsible for how the virus made its way all around the world."
“我们看到非典的人际传播能力更强。而且我们也发现了所谓‘超级传播者’的个体，与其他人相比，这些人传播病毒的次数多到严重不成比例，他们应该对这种病毒传播到世界各地严重负责。”

Mr. Adalja says there are no MERS super-spreaders -- at least, not yet.
Adalja先生说，至少现在还没有出现中东呼吸综合症的超级传播者。

The World Health Organization reports 261 MERS infections, including 93 deaths. Other organizations put those numbers higher.
世卫组织报告了261例中东呼吸综合症感染者，其中93例死亡。其它组织统计的数字更大。

In April, there was a sharp rise in cases in Saudi Arabia. Some health experts fear that means the MERS virus has changed, or mutated. That would be a danger sign.
今年4月，沙特的感染病例突然急剧上升。一些健康专家担心，这意味着中东呼吸综合症病毒发生了突变。那将是一个危险的信号。

But the CDC's David Swerdlow says German researchers have examined DNA from some of the new Saudi cases.
但疾病预防控制中心的斯维尔德洛称，德国研究人员已经研究了来自沙特一些新病例的DNA。

"The information they have shown suggests that there has not been any significant change in the virus."
“他们发布的信息表明，该病毒还没有发生任何显著的变化。”

That is, again, good news. But Mr. Swerdlow says researchers need more information to be sure. Scientists still do not know a lot about MERS. They do not even know where it came from, although camels are the prime suspect.
也就是说，同时是一个好消息。但Swerdlow先生说，研究人员需要更多信息来确定。科学家仍然对中东呼吸综合症知道的不多。他们甚至不知道它来自哪里，虽然说骆驼是头号嫌犯。

But, Amesh Adalja says scientists have learned from the SARS virus.
但是，Amesh Adalja称，科学家已经从非典病毒中汲取了经验教训。

"The world is a small place ... that borders don't mean anything. And that the total health security of the globe is really tied up in identifying these threats as quickly as possible and then trying to stop them in their tracks."
“世界其实很小，各国边境也没有任何意义。全球总的卫生安全维系于尽快识别出这些威胁，然后努力阻止其传播。”

That's why health officials around the world are keeping a close eye on MERS.
这就是为什么世界各地的卫生官员都在密切关注中东呼吸综合症的原因。

On Friday, the CDC reported the first case of MERS within the United States.
周五，美国疾病控制预防中心报告了美国国内首例中东呼吸综合症感染病例。

CDC officials said an American health care worker infected with the virus is being treated at a hospital in the northern state of Indiana. They said the patient traveled from Saudi Arabia to London on April 24th, and then on to the United States.
疾控中心官员称，一位感染了这种病毒的医护人员正在北部的印第安纳州的一家医院接受治疗。他们称，这名患者4月24日从沙特阿拉伯前往伦敦，然后回到美国。

The CDC is working to identify people who may have been in contact with that patient.
美国疾病控制预防中心正在努力寻找与这位患者可能有过接触的人。

When health officials find that a virus such as MERS is traveling from country to country, they often issue "travel advisories." Travel advisories warn people of certain events taking place in a country such as civil war, crime and public health threats like a virus. Currently, the CDC is not advising people to change their travel plans because of the MERS virus.
当卫生官员发现一种病毒从一国传播到另一国，例如中东呼吸综合征病毒，他们通常会发出“旅行警告。”旅行警告会就一国发生的特定事件，像内战，犯罪或病毒等公共卫生威胁对人们发出警告。目前，美国疾病控制预防中心并未因为中东呼吸综合征病毒建议人们改变其旅行计划。