经济学人81:沉冤得雪的黄瓜

 　　E. coli in Germany

　　德国的大肠杆菌疫情

　　Don't shoot the cucumber

　　沉冤得雪的黄瓜

　　A deadly outbreak in Hamburg causes ripples¹ round Europe

　　爆发在汉堡的致命性疫情引发欧洲震荡

　　Jun 2nd 2011 | BERLIN | from the print edition

　　SEVENTEEN deaths, some 1,500 confirmed or suspected cases and hundreds of millions of euros in losses: the outbreak of E. coli infections in northern Germany is causing havoc² across Europe. The culprit is an especially nasty strain of E. coli, which normally resides harmlessly in the gut³. Type O104:H4 can cause bloody⁴ diarrhoea, convulsions and, most lethally⁵, haemolytic-uraemic syndrome⁶, which attacks the kidneys. Nearly all the dead are women. Nobody knows why.

　　7人死亡，约1500例确认或者疑似病例，数以亿计欧元的经济损失：在德国北部爆发的大肠杆菌疫情让整个欧洲都陷入了一片混乱。罪魁祸首是特别恶心的大肠杆菌族的一种，通常情况下驻于肠内且对人体无害。这种叫O104:H4型的大肠杆菌能造成出血性腹泻，痉挛，以及更为致命的溶血性尿毒综合征症状，引发肾衰竭。几乎所有的死者都是女性。没人能解释这一现象。

　　German health authorities at first traced the infection to organic cucumbers from Spain and advised people to avoid them, along with salad and raw tomatoes. Now it seems the cucumbers were innocent (though some may have been contaminated with another strain). But the vegetable warning still stands, and the economic and political damage is mounting.

　　德国卫生部门最先把疫情“元凶”定为从西班牙进口的有机黄瓜，并告诫民众避免食用它们，包括沙拉和生西红柿。现在看来黄瓜貌似已经“沉冤得雪”了（尽管有些可能被其他的病原体所感染）。但是对于蔬菜的食用警告依然有效，政治经济损失也逐渐增大。

　　Spanish growers claim that they are suffering losses of

1 ripples   

逐渐扩散的感觉( ripple的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The moon danced on the ripples. 月亮在涟漪上舞动。
• The sea leaves ripples on the sand. 海水在沙滩上留下了波痕。

2 havoc   

n.大破坏，浩劫，大混乱，大杂乱

参考例句：

• The earthquake wreaked havoc on the city.地震对这个城市造成了大破坏。
• This concentration of airborne firepower wrought havoc with the enemy forces.这次机载火力的集中攻击给敌军造成很大破坏。

3 gut   

n.[pl.]胆量；内脏；adj.本能的；vt.取出内脏

参考例句：

• It is not always necessary to gut the fish prior to freezing.冷冻鱼之前并不总是需要先把内脏掏空。
• My immediate gut feeling was to refuse.我本能的直接反应是拒绝。

4 bloody   

adj.非常的的；流血的；残忍的；adv.很；vt.血染

参考例句：

• He got a bloody nose in the fight.他在打斗中被打得鼻子流血。
• He is a bloody fool.他是一个十足的笨蛋。

5 lethally   

adv.致命地；危害地；极具威胁地

参考例句：

• AMERICANS do it guiltily, Russians casually, Africans lethally and the French habitually. 通奸这种事美国人做起来满怀内疚，俄国人非常随便，非洲人相当致命，法国人习以为常。 来自互联网
• The concentration of salt in her blood was found to be lethally low. 人们发现她血液中的盐浓度很低，是致命的原因。 来自互联网

6 syndrome   

n.综合病症；并存特性

参考例句：

• The Institute says that an unidentified virus is to blame for the syndrome. 该研究所表示,引起这种综合症的是一种尚未确认的病毒。
• Results indicated that 11 fetuses had Down syndrome. 结果表明有11个胎儿患有唐氏综合征。