VOA慢速英语2020 美国批准首项针对埃博拉病毒的疗法（在线收听）

The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved the world's first treatment for the deadly Ebola virus.

美国食品和药品管理局已经批准了全球第一种针对致命埃博拉病毒的疗法。

The treatment, Inmazeb, is a combination of three genetically-engineered antibodies. The company Regeneron Pharmaceuticals developed it to treat both young and old patients with the virus version called Zaire Ebola. It is the deadliest kind of Ebola known to infect humans. Zaire Ebola usually kills 60 to 90 percent of patients.

这种被称为Inmazeb的疗法是3种转基因抗体的结合。美国再生元制药公司开发了这种疗法，用于治疗扎伊尔型埃博拉病毒的青老年患者。扎伊尔型埃博拉病毒是已知感染人类的最为致命的埃博拉病毒。它通常会导致60%到90%的患者死亡。

FDA officials announced the approval of Inmazeb on Wednesday.

美国食品和药品管理局官员周三宣布批准Inmazeb疗法。

The Zaire Ebola virus can spread easily through direct contact with body fluids of infected people or animals. Signs of the disease include increased body temperature, pain, stomach sickness, kidney and liver damage, and bleeding. People who provide care to infected individuals are at highest risk of contracting the virus.

扎伊尔型埃博拉病毒可以通过直接接触被感染人类或动物的体液而轻易传播。这种疾病的症状包括发烧、疼痛、胃病、肾脏和肝脏损害以及出血。为感染者提供护理的人员感染这种病毒的风险最高。

Regeneron's drug was one of four tested during a Zaire Ebola outbreak in Congo between 2018 to 2019. The outbreak killed almost 2,300 people.

再生元公司的这种药物是2018年到2019年扎伊尔型埃博拉疫情在刚果爆发期间测试的4种药物之一。这次爆发导致近2300人死亡。

Regeneron received support from the U.S. National Institutes of Health and international health agencies.

再生元公司获得了美国国立卫生研究院和国际卫生机构的支持。

The study involved 681 people infected with the virus. After four weeks, about one-third of 154 patients who received Inmazeb had died. Similar results were reported for a group that got a different drug. But, about half the patients died among the other two groups given one of the other two drugs.

这项研究涉及了681名病毒感染者。四周之后，接受Inmazeb疗法治疗的154名患者有约1/3的人死亡。使用另一种药物的一组患者报告了近似结果。但是，使用另两种药物之一的两组患者约有一半人死亡。

The study ended early last year so all patients could get Inmazeb.

这项研究于去年年初结束，因此所有患者均可获得Inmazeb疗法治疗。

Leah Lipsich leads Regeneron's infectious diseases program. She said, "When you have three drugs that bind to the (virus), there's a low probability that the virus can evade all of them."

利亚·利普希克领导了再生元公司的传染病项目。她说：“当有3种药物与这种病毒结合时，它对所有药物都免疫的可能性就很小。”

Lipsich noted that the FDA's approval will make it easier for the company to get permission to use the drug during outbreaks in African countries.

利普西克指出，美国食品和药品管理局的批准将会使得该公司更容易在非洲国家爆发疫情期间获得使用该药物的许可。

George D. Yancopoulos is Regeneron's chief scientific officer. He said the drug maker is using the same technology to develop an antibody drug to treat COVID-19. He said in a statement, "we hope this will be one of many demonstrations of how the power of science can be successfully deployed against dangerous infectious diseases."

乔治·扬科普洛斯是再生元公司的首席科学家。他说，这家制药商正在使用相同技术开发一种治疗新冠肺炎的抗体药物。他在声明中表示：“我们希望这将成为如何成功利用科学力量对付危险传染病的众多例证之一。”

The antibody combination technology has also been used to develop drugs to treat HIV, the cause of AIDS. Regeneron and drug maker Eli Lilly are now asking the FDA to permit emergency use of experimental engineered antibody medicine to treat patients with COVID-19.

抗体结合技术也被用于开发治疗艾滋病的药物。再生元公司和美国礼来制药公司目前要求美国食品和药品管理局允许紧急使用实验性转基因抗体药物治疗新冠肺炎患者。

The FDA approved the first vaccine for Ebola last December. That drug, Ervebo, is made by Merck.

美国食品和药品管理局去年12月批准了首个埃博拉疫苗。这种名为Ervebo的疫苗是由默克公司生产的。