怎样才能阻止武汉冠状病毒在世界范围内的传播呢?

怎样才能阻止武汉冠状病毒在世界范围内的传播呢?

The outbreak of the Wuhan coronavirus in central China has infected thousands and spread overseas, raising the specter of a potential global epidemic as authorities desperately try to contain it.

中国中部地区爆发的武汉冠状病毒已经感染了数千人，并向海外蔓延，在有关部门竭力控制疫情的同时，这引发了一场潜在全球疫情的担忧。

Since the first case was identified in early December in Wuhan, capital of Hubei province, more than 5.900 people have fallen sick and at least 132 people have died in mainland China. In addition, there are dozens of confirmed cases in 17 locations outside of mainland China, including at least five in the United States.

自12月初在湖北省省会武汉发现首例病例以来，中国大陆已有5900多人患病，至少132人死亡。此外，中国大陆以外的17个地点有数十例确诊病例，其中至少有5例在美国。

The number of total cases worldwide now exceeds 6.000.

全世界的病例总数现在已超过6000例。

How bad is it?

到底有多可怕?

Although it's scary to think of a deadly virus spreading, it's important to remember that the vast majority of cases so far have not been fatal.

尽管一想到致命病毒的传播就会让人害怕，但重要的是要记住，到目前为止，绝大多数病例都不是致命的。

The mortality rate is changing as the numbers of people affected change. As of Tuesday, Wuhan coronavirus' mortality rate was about 2.3%. By comparison, the WHO estimated that the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) outbreak of 2003 had an overall fatality ratio of 9.6%. Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) -- another type of coronavirus -- has a mortality rate of 35%.

随着受影响人数的变化，死亡率也在变化。截至周二，武汉冠状病毒的死亡率约为2.3%。相比之下，世界卫生组织估计，2003年爆发的严重急性呼吸系统综合症(SARS)的总病死率为9.6%。另一种冠状病毒中东呼吸综合征(MERS)的死亡率为35%。

However a large proportion of the coronavirus cases are considered "severe" and very few people have so far been released from hospital after recovering, according to official numbers.

然而，根据官方数据，大部分冠状病毒病例被认为是“严重的”，迄今只有极少数人在康复后出院。

So how are doctors treating it?

医生如何治疗它?

There are no specific treatments for coronaviruses, which range from the common cold to SARS. But just like the common cold, doctors can treat the symptoms, said Dr. Maria Van Kerkhove, head of the WHO's emerging diseases and zoonoses unit.

目前还没有针对冠状病毒的专门治疗方法，这些病毒的范围从普通感冒到非典都有。世界卫生组织新发疾病和人畜共患病部门的负责人玛丽亚·范克霍夫博士说，就像普通的感冒一样，医生可以治疗这些症状。

David Heymann, the WHO's Assistant Director-General for Health Security and Environment, said doctors would be making sure patients can breathe properly and give them life support if required. Aside from that, the benefit of keeping people in hospital would be isolating them from the general population, so they can't infect others.

世界卫生组织负责卫生安全和环境的助理总干事大卫·海曼表示，医生将确保患者能够正常呼吸，并在必要时给予生命支持。除此之外，让人们住院的好处是将他们与普通人群隔离开来，这样他们就不会传染给其他人。

What else can doctors do?

医生还能做什么?

The way to stop an outbreak is to work out who a patient has had contact with, and try to stop them from spreading the virus, Heymann said.

海曼说，制止疫情爆发的方法是查明病人曾经接触过谁，并设法阻止他们传播病毒。

Doctors put all the contacts the patient has had recently under "fever surveillance," he said. If those contacts develop a fever, then they are immediately tested for the virus -- and then their contacts need to be traced.

他说，医生对病人最近接触过的所有人都进行了“发烧监测”。如果这些接触者出现发烧症状，就会立即对他们进行病毒检测，然后需要追踪他们的接触者。

What about travel bans?

关于旅行禁令?

Authorities in Hong Kong, which borders mainland China, have established travel bans, telling residents of Hubei and those who have visited the province in the past 14 days that they can't enter the city. They've also said that all public, cultural and leisure facilities will be closed "until further notice" in a move to control the spread of Wuhan coronavirus. On Tuesday, Hong Kong announced it was closing many of its borders with mainland China.

与中国内地接壤的香港有关部门已经制定了旅行禁令，通知湖北居民和过去14天来过香港的人不能进入香港。他们还表示，为了控制武汉冠状病毒的传播，所有公共、文化和休闲设施将关闭，“直至另行通知”。周二，香港宣布关闭与中国大陆的许多边境。

What about vaccines?

关于疫苗?

Last century, smallpox killed about 300 million people, according to the World Economic Forum. Thanks to vaccines, it became the first deadly disease to be completely wiped out.

根据世界经济论坛的数据，上个世纪，天花夺去了大约3亿人的生命。多亏了疫苗，它成为第一个被完全消灭的致命疾病。

So it's no surprise that scientists would want to develop a vaccine for the Wuhan coronavirus.There are already vaccine candidates -- and scientists around the world are working towards developing one.

因此，科学家想要开发一种针对武汉冠状病毒的疫苗就不足为奇了。已经有候选疫苗，世界各地的科学家正在努力研制。

But even if scientists do successfully develop a vaccine, it might not be ready in time to treat this outbreak.

但是，即使科学家成功研制出疫苗，也可能无法及时应对疫情。