H7N9: 禽流感扩散至北京及河南

A new strain of bird flu in China has reached Beijing and a central province, spreading beyond the eastern region around Shanghai where it was first detected.

中国爆发的一种新型禽流感已经出现在北京和一个中部省份，范围超出最初发现该禽流感的华东上海周边地区。

By Sunday night, there had been 60 confirmed human infections with the H7N9 avian influenza virus, two weeks after it was publicly identified by Chinese health authorities. The 11 cases reported on Sunday was the biggest daily tally yet.

截止周日晚间，已有60人被确诊感染了H7N9禽流感。中国卫生部门公开确认H7N9禽流感已有两周。周日的11例感染病例是单日确诊数量最多的一次。

Among the cases reported over the weekend were two men in Henan province and a girl, 7, in Beijing – the first infection in the capital city. One of the men was reported to be in critical condition, but the other two people were stable, according to the official Xinhua news agency.

在周末报告的病例中，河南两名男士被感染，北京一名7岁女童被感染——这是首都出现的首例感染病例。据官方的新华社报告，两名男士中的一人情况危急，不过另外两人病情稳定。

The World Health Organisation said there was no evidence yet of “sustained human-to-human transmission” of the new virus, which is needed for it to spread more widely. Thirteen of the people with confirmed infections have died.

世界卫生组织(WHO)表示，目前尚无证据表明新病毒能够“持续地人传人”，而人际传染是疫情大规模扩散的必要条件。确诊的感染者中，已有13人死亡。

Most of the cases have involved people who have come into contact with poultry. The parents of the girl in Beijing traded chickens and one of the men in Henan also dealt with live poultry.

多数感染者与家禽有过接触。北京被感染的女童的父母贩卖活鸡，河南被感染者中的一名也处理活家禽。

“There’s no way to predict how it will spread but it’s not surprising if we have new cases in different places like we do in Beijing,” Michael O’Leary, China representative of the WHO, told reporters. “As far as we know, all the cases are individually infected in a sporadic and not connected way.”

WHO驻中国代表迈克尔•奥莱利(Michael O’Leary)告诉记者：“无法预测病毒如何扩散，但如果在其他地方出现像北京的案例，也不会让人奇怪。据我们所知，迄今所有病例都是单独感染的，而且这些感染是分散发生的，相互没有关联。”

Investigators have yet to pinpoint the source of the virus. The H7N9 strain does not make birds very sick, so it is much harder to identify than other strains of bird flu such as H5N1, which kills large numbers of birds.

调查人员尚未锁定病毒的来源。H7N9病毒不会使禽类患上重病，因此比H5N1之类的禽流感更加难以发现。H5N1会杀死大批鸟类。

Health authorities have long worried that China could someday face a deadly pandemic similar to Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, which struck in 2003 and killed roughly one in ten of the 8,000 people infected worldwide.

长期以来，卫生部门一直担心中国有一天会出现类似非典(SARS)一样的疫病。非典发生于2003年，全世界有8000人被感染，死亡率达10%左右。

After the infection was reported in Beijing, the capital city followed Shanghai in closing all live poultry markets. Poultry farmers say sales have fallen sharply and fried-chicken chain KFC last week reported “a significant, negative impact” on its business.

在北京报告出现感染病例后，该市也效仿上海关闭了所有活禽交易市场。家禽饲养者称，销量急剧下滑。炸鸡连锁店肯德基(KFC)上周报告称，其业务受到“严重的负面冲击”。