VOA健康报道2022 世卫组织考虑宣布猴痘疫情为全球卫生紧急事件

The World Health Organization (WHO) held an emergency meeting Thursday over the worldwide spread of monkeypox.

世界卫生组织星期四召开紧急会议，讨论猴痘在全球蔓延的问题。

The health agency is considering whether to declare the outbreak a global health emergency.

世界卫生组织正在考虑是否将猴痘疫情宣布为全球卫生紧急事件。

But critics say the WHO is only deciding to act because the disease has spread to the West from Africa.

但批评人士表示，世卫组织之所以决定采取行动，只是因为这种疾病已经从非洲传播到西方。

The declaration means the WHO considers the monkeypox outbreak to be an “extraordinary event” and that the disease is at risk of spreading to more countries.

这份声明意味着世卫组织认为猴痘疫情是一起“非同寻常的事件”，且有向更多国家传播的风险。

Many scientists doubt any declaration would help slow the disease.

许多科学家怀疑任何声明都不会有助于减缓该疾病的蔓延。

Developed countries recording¹ the most recent cases are already moving quickly to shut down the spread.

有最新病例的发达国家已经在迅速采取行动，遏制疫情的蔓延。

Last week, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus called the recent spread of monkeypox “unusual and concerning.”

上周，世卫组织总干事谭德塞·阿达诺姆称最近猴痘病毒的传播“不同寻常且令人担忧”。

It has been identified in more than 40 countries, mostly in Europe.

40多个国家已经发现猴痘病例，其中大部分在欧洲。

Monkeypox has sickened people for many years in central and west Africa, where one version of the disease there kills up to 10 percent of people.

多年来中非和西非的人们会感染猴痘病毒，猴痘病毒株的一个版本会导致那里高达10%的人死亡。

Outside of Africa, no deaths have been reported.

在非洲以外，没有死亡报告。

Oyewale Tomori is a Nigerian virologist who advises several WHO groups.

奥那沃尔﹒托莫里是尼日利亚的一位病毒学家，他是世卫组织几个咨询小组的成员。

He was critical of the WHO for organizing a meeting only after the disease appeared in Europe.

他批评世卫组织在欧洲出现猴痘病例后才组织会议。

“If WHO was really worried about monkeypox spread, they could have convened² their emergency committee years ago when it reemerged in Nigeria in 2017,” he said.

他说：“如果世卫组织真的担心猴痘病毒传播，他们本可以在几年前猴痘在尼日利亚再次出现时召开紧急委员会。”

Until last month, monkeypox had not caused large outbreaks beyond Africa.

直到上个月，猴痘病毒还没有在非洲以外地区引发大规模疫情。

And scientists have not found any major genetic³ changes in the virus.

科学家们还没有在该病毒中发现任何重大的基因变化。

A leading adviser⁴ to WHO said last month that the increase of cases in Europe was likely tied to sexual activity among gay and bisexual men at two music festivals in Spain and Belgium.

世卫组织的一位主要顾问上个月表示，欧洲猴痘病例的增加可能与西班牙和比利时两个音乐节上男同性恋和双性恋者男性之间的性行为有关。

People with monkeypox often experience symptoms like fever, body aches and a rash.

感染猴痘的人通常会出现发烧、身体疼痛和皮疹等症状。

Most recover within weeks without needing medical care.

大多数人无需医疗护理就能在几周内康复。

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has confirmed more than 3,300 cases of monkeypox in 42 countries where the virus has not been typically seen.

美国疾病控制与预防中心证实，在42个通常不会出现猴痘病毒的国家中，有3300多例猴痘病例。

More than 80 percent of cases are in Europe.

超过80%的病例发生在欧洲。

Meanwhile, Africa has already seen more than 1,400 cases this year, including 62 deaths.

与此同时，非洲今年已经出现了1400多例病例，其中62人死亡。

David Fidler is a health expert at the Council on Foreign Relations.

戴维·菲德勒是美国外交关系协会的健康专家。

He said WHO’s new attention towards monkeypox during its spread beyond Africa could worsen the divide between rich and poor countries seen during the COVID-19 pandemic.

他说，世卫组织在猴痘病毒蔓延到非洲以外地区的过程中对它的新关注可能会加剧新冠疫情期间出现的富国和穷国之间的鸿沟。

He added that it was unclear if Africans even wanted monkeypox vaccines⁵, given the danger of more common diseases like malaria⁶ and HIV.

他还说，考虑到疟疾和艾滋病等更常见疾病的危险，目前还不清楚非洲人是否需要猴痘疫苗。

“Unless African governments specifically ask for vaccines, it might be a bit patronizing to send them because it’s in the West’s interest to stop monkeypox from being exported,” Fidler said.

费德勒说：“除非非洲政府明确提出提供疫苗的要求，否则寄去疫苗可能会显得有点屈尊俯就，因为阻止猴痘向外传播符合西方国家的利益。”

In January 2020, the WHO declared that COVID-19 was an international emergency.

2020年1月，世卫组织宣布新冠疫情为国际紧急事件。

But few countries took notice until March, when the organization described it as a pandemic, weeks after other health organizations had already done so.

但直到3月，即世卫组织将其称为大流行时，几乎没有国家注意到这一点，而在此之前的数周，其他卫生组织已经将其称为大流行了。

The WHO was later criticized for its response throughout the pandemic, which may have created a quicker response to monkeypox, experts say.

专家表示，世卫组织后来因其在整个新冠疫情期间的应对措施而受到批评，这导致了世卫组织对猴痘疫情作出了更快的反应。

Salim Abdool Karim is a disease expert with the University of KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa.

萨利姆·阿卜杜勒·卡里姆是南非夸祖鲁-纳塔尔大学的疾病专家。

He said the WHO and others should be doing more to stop monkeypox from spreading around the world.

他说，世卫组织和其他组织应该采取更多措施来阻止猴痘病毒在世界各地传播。

But he did not think an emergency declaration would help much.

但他认为紧急事件声明不会有太大帮助。

He said Africa knows how to handle diseases like monkeypox.

他说，非洲知道如何应对猴痘等疾病。

“Maybe they need vaccines in Europe to stop monkeypox, but here, we have been able to control it with very simple measures,” Abdool Karim added.

阿卜杜勒·卡里姆还说：“也许在欧洲他们需要疫苗来阻止猴痘病毒的传播，但在这里，我们已经能够通过非常简单的措施来控制它。”

I’m Dan Novak.

丹·诺瓦克为您播报。

1 recording   

n.录音，记录

参考例句：

• How long will the recording of the song take?录下这首歌得花多少时间？
• I want to play you a recording of the rehearsal.我想给你放一下彩排的录像。

2 convened   

召开( convene的过去式 )； 召集； （为正式会议而）聚集； 集合

参考例句：

• The chairman convened the committee to put the issue to a vote. 主席召集委员们开会对这个问题进行表决。
• The governor convened his troops to put down the revolt. 总督召集他的部队去镇压叛乱。

3 genetic   

adj.遗传的，遗传学的

参考例句：

• It's very difficult to treat genetic diseases.遗传性疾病治疗起来很困难。
• Each daughter cell can receive a full complement of the genetic information.每个子细胞可以收到遗传信息的一个完全补偿物。

4 adviser   

n.劝告者，顾问

参考例句：

• They employed me as an adviser.他们聘请我当顾问。
• Our department has engaged a foreign teacher as phonetic adviser.我们系已经聘请了一位外籍老师作为语音顾问。

5 vaccines   

疫苗，痘苗( vaccine的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His team are at the forefront of scientific research into vaccines. 他的小组处于疫苗科研的最前沿。
• The vaccines were kept cool in refrigerators. 疫苗放在冰箱中冷藏。

6 malaria   

n.疟疾

参考例句：

• He had frequent attacks of malaria.他常患疟疾。
• Malaria is a kind of serious malady.疟疾是一种严重的疾病。