藍山雀之間也要保持距離

More than 11,000 blue tits, small songbirds, have suddenly perished or fallen ill in Germany.

德國有11000多只藍山雀突然死亡或患病。

Now German conservation group NABU is asking birdwatchers to refrain from refilling their bird feeders or water troughs in an effort to curb transmission of the new crop of illness between birds.

現(xiàn)在，德國環(huán)保組織NABU要求觀鳥者，不要再給鳥類喂食器或水槽灌滿水，以遏制這種新疾病在鳥類之間的傳播。

In other words, they’re encouraging social distancing for the blue tits.

換句話說，他們是在呼吁藍山雀之間保持距離。

Noted signs of illness including breathing problems, food avoidance, ungroomed plumage and fatigue or confusion — evidenced by their willingness to be approached by humans, when normally they would quickly fly away.

目前了解到的該疾病癥狀包括，呼吸問題、厭食、羽毛凌亂、疲勞或困惑——主要表現(xiàn)為它們能忍受被人類接近，而通常情況下它們會很快飛走。

Laboratory tests on dead-bird specimens revealed a bacterial infection of Suttonella ornithocola, which was discovered in the UK in the 1990s and is known to cause pneumonia in tit species, though blue tits have been the tits most frequently observed with the illness. Scientists are awaiting further test results, which they hope will shed more light on the infection.

通過對死禽標本的實驗室檢測，發(fā)現(xiàn)了一種由細菌感染的鳥鼻吸蟲(Suttonella ornithocola)。這種鳥鼻吸蟲于上世紀90年代在英國被發(fā)現(xiàn)，已知會導致山雀類肺炎，而藍山雀是該病中最常見的山雀?？茖W家們正在等待進一步的檢測結果，他們希望這些結果能進一步闡釋這種病菌。

There are no reports of S. ornithocola threatening animals besides birds. However, the only other known species of the bacterium, Suttonella indologenes, is found only in human hosts. In rare cases, the human pathogen has caused endocarditis, an infection of the heart valves, and peritonitis, inflammation of the abdominal lining.

除了鳥類，目前還沒有發(fā)現(xiàn)鳥類鏈球菌威脅其他動物的報道。然而，這種細菌的唯一已知的其他種類，即產(chǎn)腸病毒，只在人類宿主中發(fā)現(xiàn)。在極少數(shù)情況下，人類病原體會引起心內膜炎(心臟瓣膜感染)和腹膜炎(腹腔內膜炎癥)。

The blue tit is distinguished by its blue and yellow coloring and small size, just 4 to 5 inches long. A cousin to the North American chickadee, the blue tit population spans throughout Europe and Eastern Russia, and play an important role in woodland ecology by consuming insects, caterpillars, seeds and nuts.

藍山雀的特征是全身以藍色和黃色為主，體積小，通常只有4到5英寸長。藍山雀是北美山雀的近親，遍布歐洲和俄羅斯東部，通過食用昆蟲、毛蟲、種子和堅果，在林地生態(tài)中扮演著重要的角色。