VOA健康报道2022 猴痘病毒在欧美地区陆续出现（在线收听）

European and American health officials have identified several cases of monkeypox recently, mostly in young men.

欧美卫生官员最近发现了数例猴痘病例，其中主要为年轻男性。

The cases reported in Europe and the United States are raising concern because the disease has rarely appeared outside of Africa.

欧美报告的病例引起了人们的关注，因为这种病毒很少出现在非洲以外。

International health officials say the risk to the general population is low. They are keeping watch for cases because, for the first time, the disease appears to be spreading among people who did not travel to Africa.

国际卫生官员表示，普通人群感染的风险很低。他们正在密切关注病例，因为这种疾病似乎是首次在没有非洲旅行经历的人群当中传播。

What is monkeypox?

什么是猴痘？

Monkeypox is a virus from monkeys that was first identified in 1958. It spreads among wild animals and sometimes jumps to people.

猴痘是1958年首次在猴子身上发现的病毒。它在野生动物中传播，偶尔会传染给人类。

Most human cases have been in central and west Africa, where the disease is endemic. The first known human infection was in 1970, in a 9-year-old boy in a distant part of Congo.

大多数人类病例发生在该病流行的中非和西非。第一次已知的人类感染于1970年发生在刚果偏远地区的一名9岁男孩身上。

Symptoms and treatments

症状和治疗

Monkeypox belongs to the same virus family as smallpox but causes milder symptoms.

猴痘和天花属于同一病毒家族，但是它导致的症状较轻。

Most patients only experience fever, body aches, chills and tiredness. People more seriously sick may develop a rash and cuts on their face and hands that can spread to other parts of the body.

大多数患者只会感到发烧、身体疼痛、发冷和疲倦。病情较重的人士可能会在脸上或手上出现皮疹和伤口，并可能扩散到身体其它部位。

The virus develops in a human body from about five days to three weeks after infection. Most people recover within about two to four weeks without needing to be hospitalized. Monkeypox can result in death for up to one in 10 people and is thought to be more severe in children.

该病毒在感染5天到3个星期后发作。大多数人无需住院即可在大约两到四周内康复。猴痘可导致高达十分之一的人死亡，并且被认为在儿童中更为严重。

People exposed to the virus are often given one of several smallpox vaccines, which have been shown to be effective against monkeypox. Anti-viral drugs are also being developed.

暴露于该病毒的人士通常会接种几种天花疫苗中的一种，这些疫苗已被证明可以有效对抗猴痘。抗病毒药物也在研发中。

On Thursday, the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control said all suspected cases should be isolated and that high-risk contacts should be offered the smallpox vaccine.

欧洲疾病预防控制中心周四表示，应隔离所有疑似病例，并给高危接触者接种天花疫苗。

How many cases are there?

有多少病例？

The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates there are thousands of monkeypox infections in several African countries every year.

世卫组织估计每年在几个非洲有数千例猴痘感染病例。

Most are in Congo, which reports about 6,000 cases yearly, and Nigeria, with about 3,000 cases a year. Experts say that many infected people are likely never identified as having the disease because of uneven reporting in the countries.

大多数病例发生在每年报告约6000例的刚果以及每年约3000例的尼日利亚。专家表示，由于各国报告不均，许多感染者可能从未被确诊。

Isolated cases of monkeypox are sometimes reported outside of Africa, including in the U.S. and Britain. The cases are normally linked to travel to Africa or contact with animals from areas where the disease is more common.

有时候在包括美国和英国在内的非洲以外地区报告了孤立的猴痘病例。这些病例通常跟前往非洲旅行或与来自病毒高发地区的动物接触有关。

In 2003, 47 people in the U.S. had confirmed or probable cases. They caught the virus from pet prairie dogs that had been housed near imported small animals from Ghana.

2003年，美国有47例确诊或疑似病例。他们从宠物土拨鼠身上感染这种病毒，这些土拨鼠被安置在从加纳进口的小动物附近。

What's different this time?

这次有何不同？

This is the first time monkeypox appears to be spreading among people who did not travel to Africa. Most of the cases involve men who have had sex with other men.

这是猴痘首次在没有非洲旅行经历的人群中传播。大多数病例涉及男同。

In Europe, infections have been reported in Britain, Italy, Portugal, Spain and Sweden.

在欧洲方面，英国、意大利、葡萄牙、西班牙和瑞典都报告了感染病例。

Britain's Health Security Agency said its cases are not all connected, suggesting that there are several paths of transmission happening. The infections in Portugal were picked up at a men's sexual health center.

英国卫生安全局表示，其病例并非完全相关，这表明存在多种传播途径。葡萄牙的感染病例是在一家男性性健康中心发现的。

On Wednesday, U.S. officials reported a case of monkeypox in a man who had recently traveled to Canada, where officials are investigating suspected infections in the Montreal area.

周三，美国报告了一名最近前往加拿大的男子感染了猴痘病毒，当地官员正在调查蒙特利尔地区的疑似感染病例。

Is monkeypox spreading through sex?

猴痘是通过性行为传播的吗？

Monkeypox has not been documented to spread through sex. But it can be transmitted through close contact with infected people, their body fluids and their clothing or bedsheets.

猴痘尚未被记录为通过性传播。但是它可以通过密切接触感染者、他们的体液以及他们的衣服或床单传播。

Michael Skinner is a virologist at Imperial College London. He said it is still too early to say how the men in Britain were infected.

迈克尔·斯金纳是伦敦帝国理工学院的病毒专家。他说，现在要说英国男性是如何感染的尚为时过早。

Skinner told the Associated Press, "By nature, sexual activity involves intimate contact, which one would expect to increase the likelihood of transmission."

斯金纳对美联社表示，“本质上，性活动涉及亲密接触，人们预计这会增加传播的可能性。”

Jimmy Whitworth is a professor of international public health at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. He told Reuters that the new cases of monkeypox were "highly unusual" but urged people not to worry.

吉米·惠特沃斯是伦敦卫生与热带医学学院的国际公共卫生学教授。他对路透社表示，新的猴痘病例“非比寻常”，但他敦促人们不要但心。

"This isn't going to cause a nationwide epidemic like COVID did, but it's a serious outbreak of a serious disease – and we should take it seriously," Whitworth said.

惠特沃斯表示：“这不会像新冠病毒一样引发全国性的流行病，但是它是一种严重疾病的大爆发，我们应该认真对待它。”