新的冠狀病毒的爆發(fā)“不會是最后一次”從動物傳染給人類

新的冠狀病毒的爆發(fā)“不會是最后一次”從動物傳染給人類

The new strain of coronavirus that has killed hundreds of people in China and caused a travel lockdown of some 56 million people has been classified as a "zoonosis" because of the way it spreads from animals to humans.

這種新型冠狀病毒已在中國造成數(shù)百人死亡，并導致約5600萬人旅行受阻。由于其從動物傳播給人類的方式，這種病毒被歸類為“人畜共患病”。

Science writer David Quammen says the virus, which the World Health Organization last week declared a global health emergency, is just the latest example of how pathogens that start in animals are migrating to humans with increasing frequency — and with deadly consequences.

科學作家大衛(wèi)·夸曼表示，世界衛(wèi)生組織上周宣布該病毒為全球衛(wèi)生緊急狀態(tài)，這只是最新的一個例子，表明從動物身上開始的病原體正越來越頻繁地轉移到人類身上，并帶來致命的后果。

"When there's an animal host, then it becomes much, much more difficult to eradicate or even control an infectious virus," Quammen says. "This novel coronavirus — whether or not it turns out to be a huge catastrophe, or something we can control — one thing we know is that it won't be the last."

“當有動物宿主時，根除甚至控制傳染性病毒就會變得困難得多，”夸曼說。“這種新穎的冠狀病毒--不管它最終會不會是一場巨大的災難，或者是我們可以控制的--我們知道的一件事是，它不會是最后一次。”

Quammen's 2012 book, Spillover: Animal Infections and the Next Human Pandemic, traces the rise of different zoonoses around the world, including AIDS, Ebola and severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS). He says that one of the first questions that arise with any zoonosis pertains to the animal host:

夸曼2012年出版的《溢出效應:動物感染與下一次人類大流行》一書追溯了世界各地不同人畜共患病的興起，包括艾滋病、埃博拉病毒和嚴重急性呼吸系統(tǒng)綜合癥(SARS)。他說，人畜共患病首先出現(xiàn)的問題之一與動物宿主有關:

How is it being transmitted?

它是如何傳播的?

In the case of the new coronavirus, researchers believe that the virus may have originated with horseshoe bats in China and then could have possibly spread to other animals — which people then ate.

在這種新型冠狀病毒的案例中，研究人員認為，這種病毒可能起源于中國的馬蹄蝠，然后可能傳播到其他動物身上——人們隨后食用這些動物。

Quammen notes that humans are the common link in all zoonoses: "We humans are so abundant and so disruptive on this planet. ... We're cutting the tropical forests. We're building work camps in those forests and villages.

夸曼指出，人類是所有人畜共患病的共同紐帶：“我們人類在這個星球上是如此豐富，如此具有破壞性……我們正在砍伐熱帶雨林。我們正在那些森林和村莊里建立工作營地。

We're eating the wildlife," he says. "You go into a forest and you shake the trees — literally and figuratively — and viruses fall out."

“我們在吃野生動物，”他說，“你走進森林，搖晃樹木--無論是字面上的還是比喻的--病毒就會掉出來。”

Quammen says that the new coronavirus should be taken seriously. But he also warns against panic: "Being educated and understanding it and being ready to respond and support government response is very useful.."

夸曼說，這種新型冠狀病毒應該引起重視。但他也警告不要恐慌:“接受教育、理解它、準備好應對和支持政府的應對措施非常有用。”

On the theory that palm civets were "amplifier hosts" for the 2003 SARS outbreak

根據(jù)棕櫚果子貍是2003年非典爆發(fā)的“放大器宿主”的理論

It was found that some of the people who got sick very early on had eaten butchered civet. And they tested some civets, and they found evidence of the virus.

人們發(fā)現(xiàn)，有些人很早就生病了，吃的是宰殺過的果子貍。他們測試了一些果子貍，發(fā)現(xiàn)了病毒的證據(jù)。

On why bats are often hosts for viruses

根據(jù)為什么蝙蝠經常是病毒的宿主

There have been some discoveries lately that bat immune systems are "downregulated" in a certain way that allows for the metabolic stresses of being a mammal that flies.

最近有一些發(fā)現(xiàn)，蝙蝠的免疫系統(tǒng)在某種程度上被“下調”了，這使得作為一種會飛的哺乳動物的新陳代謝壓力得以釋放。

And the downregulating of the immune system to avoid overreaction to those stresses seems, perhaps, also to create an environment in which viruses are more tolerated in bats than in other mammals.

而免疫系統(tǒng)的下調以避免對這些壓力反應過度，似乎也創(chuàng)造了蝙蝠比其他哺乳動物更能耐受病毒的環(huán)境。

On how coronaviruses have evolved through different species

根據(jù)冠狀病毒是如何在不同物種間進化的

One of the reasons SARS could adapt from bat to civet to human is the fact that it is a coronavirus, which is a group of viruses that are very readily adaptable. Experts call that intrinsic evolvability.

SARS能從蝙蝠到果子貍再到人類的原因之一是它是一種冠狀病毒，這是一組很容易適應的病毒。專家們稱之為內在的可進化性。

On more public investment and research on new viruses

根據(jù)更多的公共投資和對新病毒的研究

This is absolutely a matter of need for more public investment, more public education, adequately funding, richly funding.

這絕對是一個需要更多的公共投資，更多的公共教育，足夠的資金，充足的資金的問題。