VOA慢速英语2016 巴西等国家出现塞卡病毒（在线收听）

巴西等国家出现塞卡病毒

From VOA Learning English, this is the Health & Lifestyle report.

这里是美国之音健康与生活方式报道。

Health officials in Brazil have declared a state of emergency in several states.

巴西卫生官员宣布几个州进入紧急状态。

They are also warning women to not get pregnant.

他们还警告妇女不要怀孕。

These extreme actions are the result of a recent rise in birth defects. About 2,400 babies in Brazil were born recently with extremely small heads.

之所以采取这一不寻常的行动，是因为最近新生儿缺陷增多，最近巴西有大约2400名新出生的婴儿头部都异常的小。

The babies have a condition called microcephaly. Microcephaly causes severe brain damage. To date, 29 of these babies have died. The number of microcephaly cases in Brazil is about 10 times higher than what the country usually sees in a year.

这些婴儿患有小头畸形症，这种病会导致严重的脑损伤，到目前为止已有29名婴儿死亡。目前巴西小头畸形症的病例是往年的10倍多。

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) explains on its website that there many causes of microcephaly. And the World Health Organization (WHO) said in a statement that the cause of the microcephaly outbreak in Brazil had yet to be determined.

美国疾控中心（CDC）在其网站上解释了导致小头畸形症的多种原因，世卫组织在一份声明中称尚未探明巴西小头畸形症爆发的原因。

However, the CDC says the link between a virus infection and microcephaly is being investigated.

然而美国疾控中心称目前正在调查一种病毒感染和小头畸形症的关联。

The virus is called Zika. Zika is spread by mosquitos. Some babies in Brazil with microcephaly have tested positive for the Zika virus while others have tested negative.

这种病毒叫塞卡病毒，巴西一些患有小头畸形症的婴儿已经检查出塞卡病毒阳性，也有婴儿呈阴性。

The CDC says that Brazil reported its first case of Zika virus in May 2015. Since then, the virus has spread and has caused infections in many Brazilian states and other countries in Latin America.

美国疾控中心称2015年5月报告了首个塞卡病毒病例，自那时起，这种病毒就开始传播并传染到巴西多个州和拉美其他国家。

According to other news agencies, health officials have reported many cases of microcephaly in Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo.

根据其他新闻机构的报道，卫生官员报道了里约热内卢和圣保罗出现多个小头畸形症病例。

Reuters news agency reports that the Zika virus has been confirmed this year in Panama, Venezuela, El Salvador, Mexico, Suriname, Colombia, Guatemala and Paraguay.

路透社报道称巴拿马、委内瑞拉、萨尔瓦多、墨西哥、苏里南、哥伦比亚、危地马拉和巴拉圭都出现了塞卡病毒。

Zika is also found in Africa and Southeast Asia.

塞卡病毒也出现在非洲和东南亚。

The CDC has a webpage with information on Zika. It says that because the "mosquitoes that spread Zika virus are found throughout the world, it is likely that outbreaks will spread to new countries."

美国疾控中心一个网页上介绍了塞卡病毒，称因为“全世界都发现有传播塞卡病毒的蚊子，因此这一疫情可能会传播到更多国家。”

Symptoms of Zika

The CDC says the common symptoms of Zika are fever, rash, headache, joint pain and red eyes. Zika causes mostly mild symptoms in adults. However, in newborns the disease can cause severe brain damage.

美国疾控中心称塞卡病毒的常见症状是发热、起皮疹、头疼、关节疼和红眼，塞卡病毒对成年人引发的症状都比较轻。然而，对于新生儿来说这种疾病可能导致严重的脑损伤。

There is no vaccine or medicine to prevent or treat Zika. Travelers and especially pregnant women are advised to protect themselves by avoiding mosquito bites.

目前没有预防或治疗塞卡病毒的疫苗或药物，旅行车尤其是孕妇应该保护自己免受蚊虫叮咬。

Health officials around the world are watching the situation closely.

全世界的卫生官员都在密切关注这一情况。