时代周刊:刚果埃博拉疫情升级（打印版）

(Now a news brief from) the Democratic Republic of Congo--an Ebola outbreak escalates

下面是来自刚果民主共和国的一则简讯埃博拉疫情升级

ALTHOUGH THE WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION (WHO) HAS said

世界卫生组织之前表示，

the ongoing Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo

刚果民主共和国爆发的埃博拉疫情

does not yet constitute a public-health emergency of international concern,

尚未发展成值得国际社会关注的突发性公共卫生事件，

on May 17 the group announced that the situation had reached a new and worrisome stage.

但5月17日，该组织宣布，局势已经进入令人不安的新阶段。

Whereas the outbreak had previously been confined to small villages,

尽管之前疫情仅局限于一些小村庄，

officials confirmed a case in Mbandaka, a city of 1.2 million people.

但官员们已经证实，有着120万人口的城市姆班达卡也出现了一例病案。

Since then, three more cases have been confirmed in the city.

从那以后，该市又确诊了三起病例。

Mbandaka acts as a hub for regional traffic,

姆班达卡是当地的交通枢纽，

thus presenting a new possibility that the virus could be easily transported.

这就为病毒的快速传播创造了新的可能。

Already, there have been 26 deaths reported during this latest outbreak of Ebola,

最近这次埃博拉病毒的爆发已经造成了26人死亡，

which came just 10 months after Congo’s previous bout with the virus was officially declared finished.

而刚果正式宣布上一轮爆发结束才刚刚过去10个月时间。

The international response to Congo’s outbreakhas been significant

刚果疫情的爆发引发了国际社会的强烈反应，

and is expected to grow now that the virus has spread to Mbandaka.

由于病毒已经传播到姆班达卡，反应预计还会进一步恶化。

The world already knows what can happen when Ebola arrives in a city.

国际社会已经知道埃博拉病毒到达一个城市之后会怎样。

When the virus spread through West Africa starting in 2014,

2014年，这一病毒开始在西非传播时，

it reached the capitals of Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone.

它传播到了几内亚、利比里亚和塞拉利昂多个国家的首都。

That epidemic left more than 11,000 people dead,

那次爆发造成了超1.1万人死亡，

and this current outbreak is the worst instance since it ended in 2016.

而这次疫情是自2016年那次疫情结束以来最严重的一次。

Still, Robert Stefen, chairman of the WHO’s emergency committee,

尽管如此，世界卫生组织紧急委员会主席罗伯特·斯特芬，

said the “situation can be brought under control”—

还是表示，“局势还是可以控制下来的”——

if, that is, the international community maintains a “vigorous response.”

如果国际社会保持“积极回应”的话。