Monkeypox is not covid mk2, but it needs to be nipped in the bud

猴痘并不是covid mk2，但需要將其消滅在萌芽狀態(tài)

A new outbreak of disease

新的疾病爆發(fā)

Since britain reported a case of monkeypox on May 7th, more than 300 further instances have been noted across the world. The disease, which is usually confined to Africa, is now present in at least 17 countries in Europe and five other non-African ones.

自從5月7日英國報(bào)告了一起猴痘病例以來，世界各地又發(fā)現(xiàn)了300多起猴痘病例。這種疾病通常局限于非洲，現(xiàn)在至少在17個(gè)歐洲國家和5個(gè)非洲以外的國家出現(xiàn)。

The symptoms (fever, exhaustion and pustules which spread across the face and body) are similar to those of smallpox, a disease that once plagued humanity but has now been exterminated. Some researchers suggest that, by ending routine anti-smallpox vaccination, this extermination may have opened the door for monkeypox to spread.

【1】pustule 膿包

這種疾病的癥狀(發(fā)燒、疲憊和膿皰遍布面部和身體)與天花相似。天花曾一度困擾人類，但現(xiàn)在已被消滅。一些研究人員認(rèn)為，這種消滅是通過結(jié)束常規(guī)的天花疫苗接種，這可能為猴痘的傳播打開了大門。

The World Health Organisation (who) says the illness rarely kills healthy adults if treated early, but can be dangerous for children, pregnant women and the immunocompromised. Those caveats are important. There is no recorded case of anyone outside Africa having died of monkeypox. But in that continent, where health care is often poor, it is fatal 3-6% of the time. Also, a strain prevalent in Congo is much more likely to kill than the west African variant now spreading outside the continent.

【1】caveat 警告；預(yù)告

世界衛(wèi)生組織(who)表示，如果及早治療，這種疾病很少會(huì)導(dǎo)致健康成年人死亡，但其對兒童、孕婦和免疫功能低下的人可能是危險(xiǎn)的。這些警告很重要。沒有非洲以外的人死于猴痘的記錄。但在非洲大陸，那里的醫(yī)療保健通常很差，致命率為3-6%。此外，在剛果流行的一種毒株比現(xiàn)在在非洲大陸以外傳播的西非變種更有可能導(dǎo)致死亡。

Previous European outbreaks have been limited to travellers from Africa, or their close contacts. The first case found in Britain this month involved someone recently arrived from Nigeria. Since then, the disease has spread more widely. By May 25th Britain had diagnosed 71 cases. Spain had reported 119. Portugal, 39. Argentina, Austria and Denmark confirmed infections on May 23rd.

以往的歐洲疫情僅限于來自非洲的旅行者或其密切接觸者。本月在英國發(fā)現(xiàn)的第一例病例涉及一名最近從尼日利亞來的人。從那以后，這種疾病傳播得更廣了。截至5月25日，英國已確診71例。西班牙報(bào)告了119例。葡萄牙39例。阿根廷、奧地利和丹麥于5月23日確診感染病例。

Monkeypox is most frequently transmitted by skin-to-skin contact, bodily fluids or contaminated material such as clothes and bedding. Many of the recent European infections have been linked to big events, including a gay-pride parade in Spain and a fetish festival in Belgium. Hans Kluge, the who’s regional director for Europe, has warned that “transmission could accelerate” during the summer months, fuelled by festivals and parties. He recommends thorough handwashing and protective equipment for health workers. Infected people and their contacts have been advised to isolate for 21 days and health authorities are using contact-tracing to minimise the spread.

猴痘最常通過皮膚接觸、體液或受污染的物質(zhì)(如衣服和被褥)傳播。最近歐洲的許多感染病例都與大事件有關(guān)，包括西班牙的同性戀驕傲游行和比利時(shí)的戀物節(jié)。世衛(wèi)組織歐洲地區(qū)主任漢斯?克魯格警告稱，在節(jié)日和派對的推動(dòng)下，夏季“傳播可能會(huì)加速”。他建議衛(wèi)生工作者徹底的洗手并配備防護(hù)設(shè)備。被感染者及其接觸者已被建議隔離21天，衛(wèi)生部門正在通過接觸者追蹤將傳播降至最低。

But the virus is not as rapidly transmissible as sars-cov-2. Nor does it mutate as quickly as coronaviruses are prone to do, reducing the risk of it suddenly becoming more dangerous. And Western countries know how to deal with it. The last big outbreak outside Africa was in 2003, when monkeypox-carrying prairie dogs caused more than 70 cases in America. That incident was quickly contained.

不過這種病毒的傳播速度不如新冠。它也不像冠狀病毒那樣迅速變異，這降低了它突然變得更危險(xiǎn)的風(fēng)險(xiǎn)。西方國家知道如何應(yīng)對。上一次非洲以外的大爆發(fā)是在2003年，當(dāng)時(shí)攜帶猴痘的草原土撥鼠在美國導(dǎo)致了70多起病例。這一事件很快得到了控制。

Vaccination can help people recover even after they have been infected, and smallpox jabs (of which many countries retain large stocks) are estimated to be 85% effective against monkeypox. Some places are already “ring-vaccinating” the personal contacts of those infected, both to protect the individuals in question and to break the chain of infection. So, although the number of cases will probably continue to rise for a while, monkeypox is most unlikely to lead to lockdowns in the way that covid-19 did.

接種疫苗可以幫助人們在感染后恢復(fù)健康，天花疫苗(許多國家保留了大量天花疫苗)估計(jì)對猴痘有85%的療效。一些地方已經(jīng)對感染者的個(gè)人接觸者進(jìn)行“環(huán)形疫苗接種”(為感染者周圍的密切接觸者接種疫苗)，這樣既能保護(hù)相關(guān)的人，又能打破感染鏈。因此，盡管病例數(shù)量可能會(huì)在一段時(shí)間內(nèi)繼續(xù)上升，但猴痘最不可能像新冠那樣導(dǎo)致封鎖。