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The new H7N9 bird flu virus, which has infected 126 people in China and killed 24 over the past month, poses a “serious” threat to world health, virologists said yesterday.
病毒学家表示，新型H7N9禽流感病毒对世界健康造成了“严重”威胁。上个月，中国有126人感染这种病毒，24人死亡。
“The World Health Organisation considers this to be a very unusual event,” said John McCauley, director of the WHO Collaborating Centre for Influenza at the UK National Institute for Medical Research. “With a 20 per cent mortality rate it is serious but we don’t know whether it is going to spread from human to human.”
英国国家医学研究院(UK National Institute for Medical Research)世界卫生组织(WHO)流感合作中心的主任约翰•麦考利(John McCauley)说：“世界卫生组织认为这是一次非同寻常的事件。20%的死亡率非常严重，但我们不确定这种病毒是否会人传染人。”
Genetic analysis shows that H7N9 has two of the five mutations believed to be required for a flu virus to spread easily through the air between people, said Wendy Barclay, professor of influenza virology at Imperial College London.
伦敦帝国理工学院(Imperial College London)流感病毒学教授温迪•巴克利(Wendy Barclay)指出，一般认为，一种流感病毒易于通过空气在人际间传播要求具备五种变异，而基因分析显示，H7N9病毒具备其中的两种。
But intensive surveillance in China has not provided clear evidence of spread between people – everyone infected so far could have picked up the virus from domestic poultry or wild birds.
但在中国的密切监控还没有提供明显证据证明人际传染，目前为止感染的人可能都是从家禽或者野生鸟类染上病毒的。
Diagnosis has proved difficult because the virus does not kill infected poultry, although detailed blood studies showing its absence in humans who have had contact with infected patients suggests it is not transmitting easily or to large numbers.
诊断比较困难，因为这种病毒不会让感染的禽类致死。但详细的血液研究显示，与感染病毒患者接触过的人没有染上病毒，表明这种病毒不会轻易或者大规模在人际间传播。
The biggest difference between H7N9 and H5N1 – the virulent avian flu strain that has infected 628 people and killed 374 over the past 10 years without transmission between humans – is its effect on birds.
H7N9和H5N1的最大区别就体现在对禽类的影响上，后者十年来共导致628人感染、374人死亡，但没有出现人际传播。
H5N1 has been easier to track because it causes severe disease in domestic poultry, while H7N9 has little or no effect on birds.
H5N1更容易追踪，因为它会导致家禽患上严重疾病，而H7N9对禽类影响微乎其微，甚至没有影响。
Jeremy Farrar, the flu expert who runs the Wellcome Trust Overseas Programme in Vietnam and takes over as head of the Wellcome Trust in October, said: “H7N9 has been found in birds in all 31 Chinese provinces . . . This has to be taken seriously but calmly.”
维康信托基金会海外项目(Wellcome Trust Overseas Programme)越南负责人、去年10月开始执掌维康信托基金会的流感专家杰里米•法拉( Jeremy Farrar)说：“在中国所有31个省都发现禽类携带H7N9病毒。这需要严肃对待，但也要保持镇定。”
“What a difference it has been working with China on this, compared with Sars 10 years ago,” Prof Farrar added.
“与10年前的非典相比，与中国在这方面的合作有了很大的不同。”
“Their openness in sharing data and samples has been a huge tribute to them.”
“中方在分享数据和样本方面的开放性值得赞赏。”
Chinese researchers published yesterday in the Lancet the first comprehensive genetic analysis of the origins and evolutionary history of H7N9. This shows the complex way flu viruses rearrange themselves in birds and animals.
中国研究人员近日在《柳叶刀》(Lancet)杂志上发布了关于H7N9来源和演变历史的首个综合基因分析。其中涉及流感病毒在禽类和动物身上自我重组的复杂方式。
H7N9 probably evolved from at least four viral components in ducks and chickens – and has already split into two lineages during the past few months, the Lancet paper says.
H7N9可能是从鸭和鸡中的至少四种病毒成分演变而来，在过去的几个月已经分成两个世系。
Human victims of H7N9 range in age from two to 89, though people affected tend to be primarily middle-aged and elderly men, in contrast to the 2009 H1N1 swine flu pandemic that mainly affected younger people – suggesting that there is no immunity in the population from previous exposure to similar flu viruses. The symptoms are mainly respiratory though in severe cases the patient’s immune system can go into overdrive, causing death.
H7N9人类感染者从两岁到89岁不等，但以中老年人为主，而2009年H1N1猪流感主要感染较为年轻的人。这表明之前接触类似流感病毒的人群没有形成免疫力。症状主要表现在呼吸系统，但在严重情况下，患者免疫系统会出现超负荷，导致死亡。
H7N9 is sensitive to Roche’s Tamiflu, the most widely used anti-flu drug. But many patients have sought medical help too late for the medicine to work and the main weapon, if the virus starts circulating between people, is likely to be a new vaccine, which will have to be developed.
H7N9对罗氏(Roche)达菲这种被广泛用于抗流感的药比较敏感。但很多患者在求医的时候，这种药物已经无法起效。如果这种病毒开始出现人际传播，主要的武器或许会是一种有待开发的新疫苗。
