VOA慢速英语2020 是否需要堤防食物中的冠状病毒？（在线收听）

Why Health Experts Aren't Warning about Coronavirus in Food

Chicken with salmonella bacteria can make you sick. Other foods with E. coli bacteria or noroviruses can also make you sick. So why are health officials not warning people about eating food contaminated with the new coronavirus?

含有沙门氏菌的鸡肉会让人生病。其他含有大肠杆菌或诺如病毒的食物也会致病。那么，为什么卫生官员没有警告人们不要食用被新型冠状病毒污染的食品呢？

The answer has to do with the way different organisms make people sick.

答案与不同的生物体使人生病的途径有关。

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says viruses and germs attach to tissues to cause illnesses. Respiratory viruses like COVID-19 usually attach to cells in places like people's lungs. But germs like norovirus and salmonella can survive the acid found in stomachs. They then multiply after attaching to cells inside the organ.

美国疾病控制和预防中心指出，病毒和细菌附着在组织上诱发疾病。像新冠病毒这样的呼吸道病毒通常会附着在人体肺部的细胞上。但是诺如病毒和沙门氏菌等细菌可以在胃酸中存活。然后它们附着在胃部的细胞上繁殖。

The CDC and other experts note that they are still studying the new coronavirus. They say there is no evidence yet that COVID-19 sickens people through their stomachs. However, the virus has been found in the waste of infected people.

美国疾控中心和其他专家指出，他们仍在研究这种新型冠状病毒。他们表示，目前还没有证据表明新冠病毒会通过胃部使人患病。然而，他们在感染者的排泄物中发现了这种病毒。

The germs also spread differently.

细菌传播的方式也不同。

Viruses like the flu and COVID-19 spread mainly through person-to-person contact and air droplets from coughing or sneezing. Germs that make people sick through food cause illnesses like diarrhea. In some cases, germs found in human waste can travel from people's hands to whatever else they touch.

流感和新冠肺炎等病毒主要通过人际接触和咳嗽或打喷嚏产生的飞沫传播。通过食物使人患病的细菌会引起腹泻等疾病。在某些情况下，在人类排泄物中发现的细菌可以通过手传播到他们接触到的任何地方。

Experts say that is why it is so important for food workers to stay home when they are sick with digestive illnesses. Otherwise, they could end up sickening lots of people.

专家表示，这就是食品工人患消化系统疾病时需要居家休息的重要性。否则，他们可能会让很多人生病。

Experts say the biggest risk related to food and COVID-19 is contact with other people and workers in food stores. Stores are now limiting the number of people they let in. They are asking customers to practice social distancing and using tape to mark how far apart people should stand.

专家表示，与食物和新冠肺炎相关的最大风险是与他人和食品店的工作人员接触。商店现在限制进店的人数。他们要求顾客练习社交距离，并用胶带标记出应该保持的距离。

The new coronavirus can survive on some surfaces. Experts say to keep your hands to yourself as much as possible and to not touch your face when shopping. The CDC suggests washing your hands after unpacking your groceries at home.

新型冠状病毒可以在一些表面上存活。专家称，购物时尽量不要用手触摸面部。美国疾控中心建议，在家里打开物品后要清洗双手。

It may also be harder for viruses to survive on food itself.

食物中的病毒本身生存的难度也会加大。

Alison Stout is an expert in infectious diseases and public health at Cornell University. She told the Associated Press that "the chances of anything surviving or coming out of [food] are small."

艾莉森·斯托特(Alison Stout)是康奈尔大学传染病和公共卫生专家。她告诉美联社，“任何细菌从（食物）中存活的机会都很小。”

The CDC notes that it is not known whether the germs found in human waste can actually sicken someone. Stout said the coronavirus being found in human waste is not likely a sign of its ability to survive in the digestive system.

美国疾病控制与预防中心指出，目前尚不清楚在人类排泄物中发现的细菌是否真的会让人患病。斯托特表示，在人类排泄物中发现的冠状病毒不太可能是其在消化系统中存活的迹象。

Words in This Story

diarrhea – n. an illness that causes you to pass waste from your body very frequently and in liquid rather than solid form

digestive – adj. relating to or functioning in the body's process of changing food into simpler forms that can be taken up and used

respiratory – adj. relating to the act or process of breathing

salmonella – n. a kind of bacteria that is sometimes in food and that makes people sick