怎樣才能阻止武漢冠狀病毒在世界范圍內的傳播呢?

怎樣才能阻止武漢冠狀病毒在世界范圍內的傳播呢?

The outbreak of the Wuhan coronavirus in central China has infected thousands and spread overseas, raising the specter of a potential global epidemic as authorities desperately try to contain it.

中國中部地區(qū)爆發(fā)的武漢冠狀病毒已經感染了數(shù)千人，并向海外蔓延，在有關部門竭力控制疫情的同時，這引發(fā)了一場潛在全球疫情的擔憂。

Since the first case was identified in early December in Wuhan, capital of Hubei province, more than 5.900 people have fallen sick and at least 132 people have died in mainland China. In addition, there are dozens of confirmed cases in 17 locations outside of mainland China, including at least five in the United States.

自12月初在湖北省省會武漢發(fā)現(xiàn)首例病例以來，中國大陸已有5900多人患病，至少132人死亡。此外，中國大陸以外的17個地點有數(shù)十例確診病例，其中至少有5例在美國。

The number of total cases worldwide now exceeds 6.000.

全世界的病例總數(shù)現(xiàn)在已超過6000例。

How bad is it?

到底有多可怕?

Although it's scary to think of a deadly virus spreading, it's important to remember that the vast majority of cases so far have not been fatal.

盡管一想到致命病毒的傳播就會讓人害怕，但重要的是要記住，到目前為止，絕大多數(shù)病例都不是致命的。

The mortality rate is changing as the numbers of people affected change. As of Tuesday, Wuhan coronavirus' mortality rate was about 2.3%. By comparison, the WHO estimated that the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) outbreak of 2003 had an overall fatality ratio of 9.6%. Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) -- another type of coronavirus -- has a mortality rate of 35%.

隨著受影響人數(shù)的變化，死亡率也在變化。截至周二，武漢冠狀病毒的死亡率約為2.3%。相比之下，世界衛(wèi)生組織估計，2003年爆發(fā)的嚴重急性呼吸系統(tǒng)綜合癥(SARS)的總病死率為9.6%。另一種冠狀病毒中東呼吸綜合征(MERS)的死亡率為35%。

However a large proportion of the coronavirus cases are considered "severe" and very few people have so far been released from hospital after recovering, according to official numbers.

然而，根據(jù)官方數(shù)據(jù)，大部分冠狀病毒病例被認為是“嚴重的”，迄今只有極少數(shù)人在康復后出院。

So how are doctors treating it?

醫(yī)生如何治療它?

There are no specific treatments for coronaviruses, which range from the common cold to SARS. But just like the common cold, doctors can treat the symptoms, said Dr. Maria Van Kerkhove, head of the WHO's emerging diseases and zoonoses unit.

目前還沒有針對冠狀病毒的專門治療方法，這些病毒的范圍從普通感冒到非典都有。世界衛(wèi)生組織新發(fā)疾病和人畜共患病部門的負責人瑪麗亞·范克霍夫博士說，就像普通的感冒一樣，醫(yī)生可以治療這些癥狀。

David Heymann, the WHO's Assistant Director-General for Health Security and Environment, said doctors would be making sure patients can breathe properly and give them life support if required. Aside from that, the benefit of keeping people in hospital would be isolating them from the general population, so they can't infect others.

世界衛(wèi)生組織負責衛(wèi)生安全和環(huán)境的助理總干事大衛(wèi)·海曼表示，醫(yī)生將確?；颊吣軌蛘：粑⒃诒匾獣r給予生命支持。除此之外，讓人們住院的好處是將他們與普通人群隔離開來，這樣他們就不會傳染給其他人。

What else can doctors do?

醫(yī)生還能做什么?

The way to stop an outbreak is to work out who a patient has had contact with, and try to stop them from spreading the virus, Heymann said.

海曼說，制止疫情爆發(fā)的方法是查明病人曾經接觸過誰，并設法阻止他們傳播病毒。

Doctors put all the contacts the patient has had recently under "fever surveillance," he said. If those contacts develop a fever, then they are immediately tested for the virus -- and then their contacts need to be traced.

他說，醫(yī)生對病人最近接觸過的所有人都進行了“發(fā)燒監(jiān)測”。如果這些接觸者出現(xiàn)發(fā)燒癥狀，就會立即對他們進行病毒檢測，然后需要追蹤他們的接觸者。

What about travel bans?

關于旅行禁令?

Authorities in Hong Kong, which borders mainland China, have established travel bans, telling residents of Hubei and those who have visited the province in the past 14 days that they can't enter the city. They've also said that all public, cultural and leisure facilities will be closed "until further notice" in a move to control the spread of Wuhan coronavirus. On Tuesday, Hong Kong announced it was closing many of its borders with mainland China.

與中國內地接壤的香港有關部門已經制定了旅行禁令，通知湖北居民和過去14天來過香港的人不能進入香港。他們還表示，為了控制武漢冠狀病毒的傳播，所有公共、文化和休閑設施將關閉，“直至另行通知”。周二，香港宣布關閉與中國大陸的許多邊境。

What about vaccines?

關于疫苗?

Last century, smallpox killed about 300 million people, according to the World Economic Forum. Thanks to vaccines, it became the first deadly disease to be completely wiped out.

根據(jù)世界經濟論壇的數(shù)據(jù)，上個世紀，天花奪去了大約3億人的生命。多虧了疫苗，它成為第一個被完全消滅的致命疾病。

So it's no surprise that scientists would want to develop a vaccine for the Wuhan coronavirus.There are already vaccine candidates -- and scientists around the world are working towards developing one.

因此，科學家想要開發(fā)一種針對武漢冠狀病毒的疫苗就不足為奇了。已經有候選疫苗，世界各地的科學家正在努力研制。

But even if scientists do successfully develop a vaccine, it might not be ready in time to treat this outbreak.

但是，即使科學家成功研制出疫苗，也可能無法及時應對疫情。