拉美茲卡病毒疫情擴大 美國發布旅遊警告
Rio DE JANEIRO — In the campaign against mosquitoes, Brazil has deployed soldiers to destroy habitats where the insects thrive. Colombia is releasing swarms of mosquitoes treated with bacteria that limit their capacity to spread disease. Mexico is testing the first vaccine against dengue fever, a mosquito-borne virus raging throughout the region.
里約熱內盧——爲了消滅蚊子，巴西派遣士兵去摧毀蚊子滋生的棲息地。哥倫比亞放出了大批經過細菌處理的蚊子，該細菌可以限制蚊子傳播疾病的能力。而墨西哥正在測試第一支登革熱疫苗，這種蚊媒病毒正在整個地區肆虐。
Yet at each turn, mosquitoes are outwitting their human opponents, a challenge highlighted by the United States’ decision to advise pregnant women to postpone traveling to more than a dozen Latin American or Caribbean countries and Puerto Rico where mosquitoes are rapidly expanding the reach of Zika, the virus linked to a surge in cases of infants born with brain damage.
但是在每輪戰鬥中，蚊子都擊敗了人類對手，美國的一個決定更是突顯了該問題的嚴重性——美國建議，計劃前往十多個拉丁美洲和加勒比國家以及波多黎各的孕婦，應延期出行，因爲在這個地區，蚊子正迅速擴大茲卡病毒(Zika)的傳播範圍。這種病毒可能導致嬰兒出生時就患有腦損傷，目前這種病例出現了激增。
The warning by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta has intensified a debate across Latin America over the hemisphere’s growing vulnerability to mosquito-borne diseases. These concerns are especially acute in Brazil, the region’s largest country, where officials hope that tourism can help revive a beleaguered economy as they prepare to host the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.
西半球對蚊媒傳染病日益脆弱的防線，已經在拉丁美洲各地引發了爭論，而亞特蘭大的美國疾病控制與預防中心(Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)發佈的這項警告，更是加劇了這種爭論。在巴西，人們的擔憂尤爲嚴重。巴西是該地區最大的國家，2016年夏季奧運會將在這裏的里約熱內盧舉辦，官員們寄望旅遊業能有助於重振該國陷入困境的經濟。
Henrique Alves, Brazil’s tourism minister, took issue with the C.D.C.’s warning on Saturday. He argued that the Brazilian authorities were adopting measures to prevent Zika from intensifying in the country, even though health officials were investigating more than 3,500 cases of microcephaly, a previously rare condition linked to Zika in which infants are born with abnormally small heads.
巴西旅遊部長恩裏克·阿爾維斯(Henrique Alves)對美國疾控中心上週六發布的警告表達了不滿。阿爾維斯說，巴西當局正在採取措施，防止茲卡在該國蔓延；但是該國衛生官員正在調查逾3500起嬰兒小頭症(microcephaly)病例，這種與茲卡有關的疾病以前很罕見，患病嬰兒在出生時頭部小得不正常。
Asked in a telephone interview if Brazil was a safe destination for pregnant women, Mr. Alves responded, “I think so, without a doubt,” emphasizing that his government’s decision to refrain from travel alerts regarding Zika coincided with World Health Organization’s policies.
當被問及巴西作爲旅遊目的地對孕婦是否安全時，阿爾維斯在電話採訪中說：“我想是的，毫無疑問。”他強調，巴西政府決定暫不發佈有關茲卡的旅遊警告，與世界衛生組織(WTO)的政策是一致的。
Mr. Alves added that he expected the Zika outbreak to ease to the point so that the Olympics here in August would not be affected.
阿爾維斯還說，他預計茲卡疫情將會有效緩解，不會影響8月在這裏舉辦的奧運會。
Yet others in Brazil applauded the C.D.C.’s alert, pointing to the country’s struggle not just with Zika, a virus with origins in Uganda that is thought to have made the leap to Brazil in 2014, but also with two other mosquito-borne viruses, dengue and chikungunya. Last year, Brazil registered more than 1.6 million cases of dengue, a virus causing fever and joint pain, with 863 people dying from the disease.
但在巴西，其他人卻對美國疾控中心發出的警告提出了稱讚，指出該國不僅在努力控制茲卡病毒，還在與另外兩種蚊媒病毒——登革熱和基孔肯雅熱(chikungunya)抗爭。據信，源於烏干達的茲卡病毒於2014年傳播至巴西。去年，巴西登記的登革熱病例超過了160萬例，有863人死於這種疾病。這種病毒會引起發燒和關節痛。
Those infected with Zika usually experience mild or no symptoms. It is not known whether the virus alone causes microcephaly or if it occurs only if the mother has had a previous infection, like dengue.
感染茲卡病毒的人通常出現輕微症狀，或沒有症狀。目前尚不清楚小頭症是否由這種病毒單獨引起，還是隻在母親之前感染過登革熱等病毒的情況下，纔會發病。
Zika has emerged as a health threat elsewhere in Latin America. In El Salvador, cases of Zika have escalated since it was first reported at the end of November. As of last week, 3,836 cases had been reported, and the government raised the alert level in 47 municipalities where the illness had been detected. The government is planning intensive fumigation campaigns in those areas.
茲卡病毒還在拉丁美洲其他地方蔓延，成爲健康威脅。在薩爾瓦多，自11月末首次通報茲卡病例以來，感染人數急劇增加。截至上週，該國已有3836個報告病例。政府在47個出現病例的市鎮提高了警戒級別。政府正計劃在這些地區開展密集的噴霧消毒行動。
El Salvador’s Health Ministry is particularly concerned about the rise of cases of Guillain-Barré syndrome, which leads to paralysis, usually temporary; researchers are exploring a possible link between Guillain-Barré and Zika. Forty-six suspected cases of the syndrome had been reported as of last week, Violeta Menjívar, the Health minister, said in a radio interview.
格利-巴林綜合症病例的增加令薩爾瓦多衛生部尤其擔心，這種疾病會導致癱瘓，癱瘓症狀通常是暫時的。研究人員正在探究格林-巴利綜合症與茲卡病毒之間的潛在聯繫。該國衛生部長維奧萊塔·蒙吉瓦爾(Violeta Menjívar)在接受電臺採訪時表示，截至上週，上報的格利-巴林綜合症疑似病例已達到46例。
Dr. Pablo Kuri Morales, Mexico’s undersecretary for Prevention and Health Promotion, said in a telephone interview on Saturday that Mexico had diagnosed 15 cases of Zika, 10 of them in the state of Chiapas, on the border of Guatemala. He added that the authorities were preparing a television and radio campaign to warn everybody, especially women of reproductive age.
週六，墨西哥疾病預防與健康促進部(Prevention and Health Promotion)副部長巴勃羅·庫裏·莫拉萊斯(Pablo Kuri Morales)博士接受電話採訪時表示，墨西哥已經診斷出15個茲卡病例，其中10例出現在靠近危地馬拉邊境的恰帕斯州。他還表示，當局正在準備發起電視及電臺宣傳，對所有人發出警告，特別是針對育齡婦女。
Dr. Kuri said the C.D.C. was “within its rights” to issue the travel warning, but he argued that the blanket admonition did not make sense when the virus has appeared in only three Mexican states. The mosquitoes that carry the virus, he said, could not survive in the high altitudes of the central plateau, including Mexico City.
庫裏博士表示，美國疾控中心“有權利”發佈旅遊警告，但他辯稱，墨西哥只有三個州出現茲卡病例，發佈這種一刀切的警告不合情理。他表示，攜帶病毒的蚊子無法在高海拔的中央平原存活，包括墨西哥城。
“I think it’s good to have these warnings,” he said, “but these things should be explained to people.”
“我覺得發佈警告是正確的，”他說。“但應該向人們說明這些情況。”
In Washington, administration officials said the decision to issue a travel alert on Friday developed quickly at the end of the week and set off a flurry of diplomatic efforts to inform officials in the countries named in the alert.
在華盛頓，政府官員表示，相關機構很快就在週末做出了於週五發佈旅遊警告的決定，並開展一系列外交努力，通知了警告所涉及國家的官員。
Officials said the notification process forced the C.D.C. to postpone a news conference that had been planned for Friday afternoon, ultimately delaying an announcement until that evening.
官員們表示，這個通知程序迫使疾控中心推遲了原本定於週五下午召開的新聞發佈會，最終延遲到晚上才公佈消息。
Aside from anecdotal accounts, it seems too early to tell how the alert will affect travel. In Brazil, Olympic officials emphasized that the Games will take place in August, during the Southern Hemisphere’s winter. The dryer, cooler weather around that time is thought to reduce the presence of mosquitoes, though virologists warn that the insects can transmit viruses year-round in Brazil.
除了各種傳言，現在斷定這種警告會如何影響旅遊還爲時過早。在巴西，奧運官員強調，奧運會將在8月舉行，那會兒是南半球的冬季。人們認爲，到時候乾燥、涼爽的天氣會致使蚊子減少，儘管病毒學家警告稱這種昆蟲能夠全年在巴西傳播病毒。
“Rio 2016 will continue to monitor the issue closely and follow guidance from the Brazilian Ministry of Health,” said Philip Wilkinson, a spokesman for the committee organizing the Games.
里約奧組委發言人菲利普·威爾金森(Philip Wilkinson)表示，“2016里約奧組委將持續密切關注這個問題，並聽從巴西衛生部的指導。”
Dr. Isaac I. Bogoch, a tropical infectious disease specialist at the University of Toronto who is part of a team modeling the potential for Zika to spread, warned that the Olympics could serve as a catalyst for the virus, which some researchers believe may have arrived in Brazil during another sports mega-event, the 2014 World Cup.
多倫多大學(University of Toronto)熱帶傳染病專家伊薩克·I·博格赫(Isaac I. Bogoch)博士警告稱，奧運會可能成爲這種病毒的催化劑，一些研究人員認爲，這種病毒可能是在舉辦另一場體育盛事——2014年世界盃——期間傳播到巴西的。博格赫參與了一個通過建模來研究茲卡病毒潛在傳播範圍的小組。
“There will be people traveling to Brazil from all over the world,” Dr. Bogoch said in an email.
博格赫博士在郵件中表示，“世界各地的人都會前往巴西。”
“The concern is that infected individuals will travel back to their home country and introduce the virus to new regions.”
“令人擔心的是，那些感染病毒的人會回到自己國家，將病毒帶到新區域。”
Dr. Bogoch and other researchers determined that Zika had the potential to rapidly spread to other parts of the world, according to findings published last week in the British medical journal The Lancet.
英國醫學期刊《柳葉刀》(Lancet)上週發表的文章顯示，博格赫及其他研究人員確定，茲卡病毒可能會迅速傳播至世界其他地區。
