By Michael Erman
作者：Michael Erman
Test tubes labelled "Monkeypox virus positive" are seen in this illustration taken May 22, 2022. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration
在 2022 年 5 月 22 日拍摄的这张插图中，可以看到标有“猴痘病毒阳性”的试管。路透社/Dado Ruvic/插图
NEW YORK, May 22 (Reuters) - Global health officials have sounded the alarm over rising cases in Europe and elsewhere of monkeypox, a type of viral infection more common to west and central Africa.
纽约，5 月 22 日（路透社）——全球卫生官员已经对欧洲和其他地方的猴痘病例不断上升发出了警报，猴痘是一种在西非和中非更为常见的病毒感染。
As of Saturday, 92 confirmed cases and 28 suspected cases of monkeypox have been reported from 12 member states that are not endemic for the virus, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). read more
根据世界卫生组织（WHO）的数据，截至周六，已有 12 个非该病毒流行的成员国报告了 92 例确诊病例和 28 例疑似猴痘病例。
The U.N. agency said it expects to identify more cases of monkeypox as it expands surveillance in countries where the disease is not typically found, and will provide further guidance and recommendations in coming days for countries on how to mitigate the spread of monkeypox.
该联合国机构表示，随着它在通常不会发现这种疾病的国家扩大监测，预计会发现更多的猴痘病例，并将在未来几天为各国提供有关如何减轻猴痘传播的进一步指导和建议。
The following is what is known about the current outbreak and relative risk of monkeypox:
以下是对当前猴痘爆发和相对风险的了解：
HOW DANGEROUS IS IT?
它有多危险？
The risk to the general public is low at this time, a U.S. public health official told reporters at a briefing on Friday.
一名美国公共卫生官员在周五的简报会上告诉记者，目前公众面临的风险很低。
Monkeypox is a virus that can cause symptoms including fever, aches and presents with a distinctive bumpy rash.
猴痘是一种病毒，可引起发烧、疼痛和独特的凹凸皮疹等症状。
It is related to smallpox, but is usually milder, particularly the West African strain of the virus that was identified in a U.S. case, which has a fatality rate of around 1%. Most people fully recover in two to four weeks, the official said.
它与天花有关，但通常较温和，尤其是在美国病例中发现的西非病毒株，其致死率约为 1%。这位官员说，大多数人会在两到四个星期内完全康复。
The virus is not as easily transmitted as the SARS-CoV-2 virus that spurred the global COVID-19 pandemic.
该病毒不像引发全球新冠肺炎疫情的新冠病毒病毒那样容易传播。
Experts believe the current monkeypox outbreak is being spread through close, intimate skin on skin contact with someone who has an active rash. That should make its spread easier to contain once infections are identified, experts said.
专家认为，目前的猴痘疫情正在通过与患有活动性皮疹的人密切、亲密的皮肤接触传播。专家说，一旦发现感染，这应该会使其传播更容易控制。
"COVID is spread by respiratory route and is highly infectious. This doesn't appear to be the case with the monkeypox," said Dr. Martin Hirsch of Massachusetts General Hospital.
“新冠病毒通过呼吸道传播，传染性很强。猴痘似乎不是这种情况，”马萨诸塞州总医院的 Martin Hirsch 博士说。
"What seems to be happening now is that it has got into the population as a sexual form, as a genital form, and is being spread as are sexually transmitted infections, which has amplified its transmission around the world," WHO official David Heymann, an infectious disease specialist, told Reuters
.世卫组织官员、传染病专家大卫·海曼（David Heymann）告诉路透社：“现在似乎正在发生的事情是，它已经作为一种性形式、一种生殖器形式进入人群，并且正在像性传播感染一样传播，这已经扩大了它在世界范围内的传播。”
WHAT HAS HEALTH EXPERTS CONCERNED?
卫生专家关注什么？
The recent outbreaks reported so far are atypical, according to the WHO, as they are occurring in countries where the virus does not regularly circulate. Scientists are seeking to understand the origin of the current cases and whether anything about the virus has changed.
据世界卫生组织称，迄今为止报告的最近爆发的疫情是非典型的，因为它们发生在病毒不经常传播的国家。科学家们正在寻求了解当前病例的起源，以及该病毒是否发生了任何变化。
Most of the cases reported so far have been detected in the UK, Spain and Portugal. There have also been cases in Canada and Australia, and a single case of monkeypox was confirmed in Boston, with public health officials saying more cases are likely to turn up in the United States.
迄今为止报告的大多数病例都是在英国、西班牙和葡萄牙发现的。加拿大和澳大利亚也出现了病例，波士顿确诊了一例猴痘病例，公共卫生官员表示，美国可能会出现更多病例。
WHO officials have expressed concern that more infections could arise as people gather for festivals, parties and holidays during the coming summer months in Europe and elsewhere.
世卫组织官员担心，随着人们在接下来的夏季几个月，在欧洲和其他地方聚集一起参加节日、聚会和假期，可能会出现更多感染。
HOW CAN PEOPLE PROTECT AGAINST INFECTION?
人们如何预防感染？
The UK has begun to inoculate healthcare workers who may be at risk while caring for patients with the smallpox vaccine, which can also protect against monkeypox. The U.S. government says it has enough smallpox vaccine stored in its Strategic National Stockpile (SNS) to vaccinate the entire U.S. population.
英国已经开始为可能有风险的医护人员接种天花疫苗，天花疫苗也可以预防猴痘。美国政府表示，其国家战略储备 (SNS) 中储存了足够的天花疫苗，可以为整个美国人口接种疫苗。
There are antiviral drugs for smallpox that could also be used to treat monkeypox under certain circumstances, a spokesperson for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services said in a statement.
美国卫生与公众服务部发言人在一份声明中说，在某些情况下，有一些抗天花病毒药物也可用于治疗猴痘。
More broadly, health officials say that people should avoid close personal contact with someone who has a rash illness or who is otherwise unwell. People who suspect they have monkeypox should isolate and seek medical care.
更广泛地说，卫生官员表示，人们应该避免与患有皮疹疾病或身体不适的人密切接触。怀疑患有猴痘的人应隔离并寻求医疗护理。
WHAT MIGHT BE BEHIND THE SPIKE IN CASES?
病例激增的背后可能是什么？
"Viruses are nothing new and expected," said Angela Rasmussen, a virologist at the Vaccine and Infectious Disease Organization at the University of Saskatchewan in Canada.
加拿大萨斯喀彻温大学疫苗和传染病组织的病毒学家Angela Rasmussen说：“病毒并不是什么新鲜事物，也不是人们所期待的。”
Rasmussen said a number of factors including increased global travel as well as climate change have accelerated the emergence and spread of viruses. The world is also more on alert to new outbreaks of any kind in the wake of the COVID pandemic, she said.
Rasmussen说，包括全球旅行增加和气候变化在内的许多因素加速了病毒的出现和传播。她说，在新冠疫情之后，世界也更加警惕任何形式的新爆发。
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